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NOVELS.

N° XLVIII.

*' No kind of literature is so generally attractive as Fiction. Pictures of
life and manners, and Stories of adventure, are more eagerly received by
the many than graver productions, however important these latter maybe.
Apuleius is better remembered by his fable of Cupid and Psyche than by
his abstruser Platonic writings; and the Decameron of Boccaccio has out-
lived the Latin Treatises, and other learned works of that author."

ADVENTURES

OF

A YOUNGER SON.

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.

LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH;
CUMMING AND FERGUSON, DUBLIN.

1846.

London :

Pjfiiited by A. Spotti* wood c,

New-Street-iSqu:ire.

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?idon, P '

ADVENTURES

OF

A YOUNGER SON.

Ed-

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17vc lot inm £*/

And I will war, at least in words, (and — should

My chance so happen — deeds) with all who war

With thought ; — and of thought's foes by far most rudea

Tyrants and sycophants have been and are.

I know not who may conquer : if I could

Have such a prescience, it should be no bar

To this my plain, sworn, downright detestation

Of every despotism in every nation.

Byron,

LONDON:
RICHARD BEXTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH;
GUMMING AND FERGUSON, DUBLIN*

1846.

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ADVENTURES

A YOUNGER SON.

CHAPTER I.

Love or lust makes man sick, and wine much sicker,

Ambition rends, and gaming gains a loss ;
But making money, slowly first, then quicker,

And adding still a little through each cross
(Which will come over things) beats love and liquor. Byron.

My birth was unpropitious. I came into the world, branded
and denounced as a vagrant ; for I was a younger son of a
family, so proud of their antiquity , that even gout and mort-
gaged estates were traced, many generations back, on the
genealogical tree, as ancient heirlooms of aristocratic origin,
and therefore reverenced. In such a house a younger son
was like the cub of a felon-wolf in good King Edgar's days,
when a price was set upon his head. There have been laws
compelling parents to destroy their puny offspring ; and a
Spartan mother might have exclaimed with Othello, while
extinguishing the life of her yet unconscious infant,

" I that am cruel, am yet merciful,
I would not have thee linger in thy pain ; "

which was just and merciful, in comparison with the atro-
cious law of primogeniture. My grandfather was a general,
and had little to give my father, his only son, but patronage
in his profession. Nature, in some sort, made him amends

B

2 ADVENTURES OF

by bestowing that which leads to fortune oftener than
genius, virtue, or such discarded claimants — a handsome
exterior set off by courtly manners. His youth was not
distinguished by any marked peculiarity, running the course
of the gallants of the day. Women, wine, the court, the
camp, formed the theatre of his ambition, and there he was
accounted to play his part well. In his twenty-fourth year
he became enamoured of a lovely and gentle girl. His
thoughts took a new turn. He discovered (for in that he
was learned) that the passion was mutual ; and the only
barrier to the completion of their wishes was fortune. Their
families, but not their expectations, were equal. Youth
and love are generally proof against the admonitions of
parents and guardians. As to money, settlements, and
deeds, first love is of too sincere and passionate a character
to be controlled by worldly calculating selfishness, which, in
after life, is mingled up more or less in all our dealings
with women, and theirs with us. The noble and generous
passions, animated by first love, often impress on the un-
settled and fluctuating character .of youth a fixedness, which
time cannot wholly destroy. Would to Heaven my father
had united his fate with her's, for her worth has stood
proof against time and change ! While he was labouring
to overcome the impediments to his marriage, he was or-
dered with a party to recruit in the west. Thinking their
separation temporary, they parted, as all those, under such
circumstances, have parted, with protestations of eternal
fidelity ; but, what is not so general, considering his being
a gay soldier, he continued true to his oaths for three
months.

At a ball, given by the county sheriff on his nomination,
his daughter, an heiress, when desired by her father to give
her hand, for the first dance, to the man of highest rank in
the room, who happened to be the oldest, declared she
would give it to the handsomest. She selected, my father,
and with him she danced. This preference flattered him,
and its being a subject of conversation gave birth to ideas
which, otherwise, might not have entered his head. She
was a dark, masculine woman of three and twenty ; but she
was the richest, and that was enough to make her seem at

A YOUNGER SON. 3

least the mcst interesting. My father was naturally, or by
the example of the world, of a selfish turn of mind. Rich
and beautiful soon became synonymous terms with him. He
received marked encouragement from the heiress. He saw
those he had envied, envying him. Gold was his god, for
he had daily experienced those mortifications to which the
want of it subjected him : he determined to offer up his
heart to the temple of Fortune alone, and waited but an
opportunity of displaying his apostacy to love. The struggle
with his better feelings was of short duration. He called
his conduct prudence and filial obedience — and those are
virtues — thus concealing its naked atrocity by a seemly
covering. His letters grew briefer, and their interval greater,
to the lady of his love — his visits became frequent to the
lady of wealth. But why dwell on an occurrence so com-
mon in the world — the casting away of virtue and beauty
for riches, though the devil gives them ? He married ;
found the lady's fortune a great deal less, and the lady a
great deal worse than he had anticipated ; went to town ir-
ritated and disappointed, with the consciousness of having
merited his fate ; sunk part of his fortune in idle parade to
satisfy his wife ; and, his affairs being embarrassed by the
lady's extravagance, he was, at length, compelled to sell out
of the army, and retire to economise in the country.

Malthus had not yet enlightened the world. Every suc-
ceeding year he reluctantly registered in the family Bible
the birth of a living burthen. He cursed my mother's fer-
tility, and the butcher's and baker's bills. He grew gloomy
and desponding.

A bequest fell to him, and he seriously set about amassing
money, which was henceforth the leading passion of his life.
He became what is called a prudent man. If a poor rela-
tion applied to him, he talked of his duty to his wife and
children; and when richest, complained most of his poverty,
of extortion, and of the unconscionable price of every thing.
He contended that he could not afford to send his children
to school; learning was too dear; it was unnecessary, for his
education at Westminster had proved of no benefit, as he
had never since looked into the Greek, Latin, and all the
books he had read there by compulsion ; yet he was not
b 2

* ADVENTURES OP

more ignorant than his neighbours. He knew the import-
ance of money, and the necessity of accumulating it, and
could calculate the value of learning. Perhaps he believed
exclusively in the doctrine of innate talent. Knowledge, in
his opinon, would come when called for. It would be time
enough when our professions were determined on, to learn
what was indispensable ; and as my brother's and mine
would be that of arms, very little was necessary. He hated
superfluity in any thing; besides, he had observed that those
in his regiment who were addicted to books were the most
troublesome, and their learning was no step to their advance-
ment.

CHAPTER II.

And oft
In wantonness of spirit, plunging down
Into their green and glassy gulphs, and making
My way to shells and sea-weed, all unseen
By those above, till they wax'd fearful; then
Returning with my grasp full of such tokens
As show'd that I had search'd the deep, exulting
With a far-dashing stroke, and drawing deep
The long suspended breath, again I spurn'd
The foam which broke around me, and pursued
My track like a sea-bird. Byron.

My brother was tractable, mild, and uncomplaining. I was
in continual scrapes. I insisted on following the bent of
my inclinations ; and opposition only sharpened my desires.
We were not allowed, among the many petty restrictions of
our unkind governor, to stray off the gravelled paths in the
garden. My brother submitted to this ; while I sought for
compensation in our neighbour's gardens, returning from
them with fruits and flowers in abundance. My brother
was contented with his daily walk upon the common or the
road ; I, with my pockets well filled with bread and apples,
climbed the hills, or descended them to learn swimming in
the rivers. I hated .all that thwarted me — parsons, pastors,
and masters. Every thing I was directed cautiously to

A YOUNGER SON. 5

shun, as dangerous or wrong, I sought with avidity, as
giving the most pleasure. Had I been treated with affection,
or even with the show of it, I believe that I also should
have been tractable, mild, and uncomplaining. Punishment
and severity of all kinds were the only marks of paternal
love that fell to my share, from my earliest remembrance.

My father had a fancy for a raven, that, with ragged
wings, and a grave antique aspect, used to wander solitarily
about the garden. He abhorred children ; and whenever
he saw any of us, he used to chase us out of his walks. I
was then five years old. Had the raven pitched on any
other spot than the one he selected, the fruit-garden, I cer-
tainly should never liave disputed his right of possession.
As it was, we had all, from the time we could walk, consi-
dered him and my father the two most powerful, awful,
and tyrannical persons on earth. The raven was getting
into years ; he had a grey and grisly look ; he halted on one
leg ; his joints were stiff, his legs rough as the bark of a
cork-tree, and he was covered with large warts : his eyes had
a bleared and sinister expression ; and he passed most of his
time idling in the sun under a south wall, against which
grew the delicious plums of the garden. Many were the
stratagems we used to lure him from the spot ; the garbage,,
on which he gloated, was offered in vain. His moroseness
and ferocity, and our difficulty in getting fruit, were insup-
portable. We tried to intimidate him with sticks, but wrere
too weak to make the least impression on his weather-
hardened carcase; and we got the wrorst of it. I used,
when I could do so slily, to throw stones at him, but this
had no effect. Thus things continued. I had in vain sought
for redress from the gardener and servants : they laughed at
us, and jeered us.

One day I had a little girl for my companion, whom I
had enticed from the nursery to go with me to get some
fruit clandestinely. We slunk out, and entered the garden
unobserved. Just as we were congratulating ourselves under
a cherry tree, up comes the accursed monster of a raven.
It was no longer to be endured. He seized hold of the
little girl's frock ; she was too frightened to scream ; I did
not hesitate an instant. I told her not to be afraid, and
b 3

6 ADVENTURES OF

threw myself upon him. He let her go, and attacked me
with bill and talon. I got hold of him by the neck, and,
heavily lifting him up, struck his body against the tree and
the ground ; but nothing seemed to hurt him. He was
hard as a rock. Thus we struggled, I evidently the weaker
party. The little girl, who was my favourite, said, :e I'll
go and call the gardener !"

I said, " No ; he will tell my father : I will hang the
old fellow " (meaning the raven, not my father) ; " give
me your sash ! "

She did so, and with great exertion I succeeded, though I
was dreadfully mauled, in fastening one end round the old
tyrant's neck ; I then climbed the cherry tree, and, holding
one end of the sash, I put it round a horizontal branch,
when, jumping on the ground, I fairly succeeded in sus-
pending my foe.

At this moment my brother came running towards me.
When he saw the plight I was in, he was alarmed; but, on
beholding our old enemy swinging in the air, he shouted
for joy. Fastening the end of the sash, we commenced
stoning him to death. After we were tired of that sport, and
as he was, to all appearance, dead, we let him down. He
fell on his side, when I seized hold of a raspberry-stake,
to make sure of him by belabouring his head. To our utter
amazement and consternation, he sprung up with a hoarse
scream, and caught hold of me. Our first impulse was to
run ; but he withheld me, so I again fell on him, calling to
my brother for assistance, and bidding him lay fast hold of
the riband, and to climb the tree. I attempted to prevent
his escape. His look was now most terrifying : one eye
was hanging out of his head, the blood coming from his
mouth, his wings flapping the earth in disorder, and with
a ragged tail, which I had half plucked by pulling at him
during his first execution. He made a horrible struggle for
existence, and I was bleeding all over. Now, with the aid
of my brother, and as the raven was exhausted by exertion
and wounds, we succeeded in gibbeting him again ; and then
with sticks we cudgelled him to death, beating his head to
pieces. Afterwards we tied a stone to him, and sunk him
in a duck-pond.

A YOUNGER SON.

This was the first and most fearful duel I ever had. I
mention it, childish though it be, not only because it lives
vividly in my memory, but as it was an event that, in re-
viewing my after-life, seems evidently the first ring on which
the links of a long chain have been formed. It shows how
long I could endure annoyance and oppression, and that when
at last excited, I never tried half measures, but proceeded to
extremities without stop or pause. This was my grievous
fault, and grievously have I repented it ; for I have de-
stroyed, where, in justice, I was justified, but where, in
mercy, I ought only to have corrected; and thus thestanders-
by have considered that, which I only thought a fair re-
taliation, revenge.

CHAPTER III.

There arose
From the near school-room voices that, alas!
Were but one echo from a world of woes,
The harsh and grating strife of tyrants and of foes, Shelley.

Phrensied with new woes,
Unused to bend, by hard compulsion bent. Keats.

Jn compliance with my father's notions respecting the in-
utility of early education, I was not sent to school till I was
between nine and ten years old. I was then an unusually
great, bony, awkward boy. Whilst my parents were in their
daily discussion of the question as to the period at which
the schooling of their sons was to commence, a trivial oc-
currence decided the question. I was perched on an apple
tree, throwing the fruit down to my brother, when our father
came on us suddenly. Every trifle put him in a passion.
Commanding us to follow him, he walked rapidly on through
the grounds, into the road, without entering the house. He
led us towards the town and through the streets, without
uttering a syllable, a distance of two miles. I followed with
b 4

8 ADVENTURES OP

dogged indifference, yet at times inquired of my brother
what he thought would be the probable result, but he made
no reply. Arriving at the further extremity of the town,
my father stopped, asked some questions inaudible to us,
and stalked forward to a walled and dreary building. We
followed our dignified father up a long passage ; he rung at
a prison -looking entrance-gate; we were admitted into a
court; then crossing a spacious dark hall, we were conducted
into a small parlour, when the door was shut, and the ser-
vant left us. In ten minutes, which seemed an eternity,
entered a dapper little man, carrying his head high in the
air, with large bright silver buckles in his shoes, a stock
buckled tightly round his neck, spectacled, and powdered.
There was a formal precision about him, most fearful to a
boy. A hasty glance from his hawk's eye, first at our father,
and then at us, gave him an insight into the affair. With
repeated bows to our father, he requested him to take a chair,
and pointed with his finger for us to do the same. There
was an impatience and rapidity in every thing he said ;
which indicated that he liked doing and not talking.

( ' Sir," said our parent, ei I believe you are Mr. Sayers ? "

" Yes, sir."

" Have you any vacancies in your school ? "

" Yes, sir."

" Well, sir, will you undertake the charge of these un-
governable vagabonds ? I can do nothing with them. Why,
sir, this fellow" (meaning me) " does more mischief in my
house than your sixty boys can possibly commit in yours."

At this the pedagogue, moving his spectacles towards the
sharpened tip of his nose, peered over them, measuring me
from head to foot ; and clenching his hand, as if, in ima-
gination, it already grasped the birch, gave an oblique nod,
to intimate that he would subdue me. My inauguration
proceeded —

" He is savage, incorrigible ! Sir, he will come to the
gallows, if you do not scourge the devil out of him. I
have this morning detected him in an act of felony, for
which he deserves a halter. My elder son, sir, was in-
stigated by him to be an accomplice ; for naturally he is
of a better disposition." With this, my father, after

A YOUNGER SON. 9

arranging what was indispensable, bowed to Mr. Sayers,
and without noticing us. withdrew.

Consider the outrage to my feelings. Torn from my
home, without notice or preparation ; delivered, in bitter
words, an outcast, into the power of a stranger ; and, a
minute afterwards, to find myself in a slip of ground,
dedicated to play, but, by its high walls and fastnesses,
looking more like a prison -yard. Thirty or forty boys,
from ^ve to fifteen years of age, stood around us, making
comments, and asking questions. I wished the earth to
open and bury me, and hide the torturing emotions with
which my bosom swelled. Now that I look back, I re-
peat that wish with my whole soul; and could I have
known the future, or but have dreamed of the destiny
that awaited me, boy as I was, I would have dashed my
brains out against the wall, where I leaned in sullenness
and silence. My brother's disposition enabled him to
bear his fate in comparative calmness ; but the red spots
on his cheeks, the heavy eyelid, the suppressed voice,
showed our feelings, though differing in acuteness, to be
the same.

Miserable as I was during my school-days, the first was
the bitterest. At supper, I remember, I was so choked
with my feelings, that I could not swallow my dog-like
food, arranged in scanty portions ; and my first relief was
when, in my beggarly pallet, the rushlights extinguished,
and surrounded by the snoring of the wearied boys — to me
a sound of comfort — I could give vent to my overcharged
heart in tears. I sobbed aloud ; but on any one's moving,
as if awake, I held my breath till re-assured. Thus I
sobbed on, and was not heard ; till the night was far ad-
vanced, and my pillow bathed in tears, when, outworn,
I fell into a sleep, from which I was rudely shaken, un-
refreshed, at seven in the morning. I then descended to
the school-room.

Boys, acting under the oppression of their absolute
masters, are cruel, and delight in cruelty. All that is evil
in them is called forth ; all that is good repressed. They
remember what they endured when consigned as bond-
slaves ; the tricks, all brutish, that were played on them ;

10 ADVENTURES OF

the gibes at their simplicity ; their being pilfered by the
cunning, and beaten by the strong ; and they will not allow
a new comer to escape from the ordeal. Boys at school
are taught cruelty, cunning, and selfishness : and he is
their victim and fool who retains a touch of kindliness.

The master entered. He was one of those pedagogues
cf, what is called, the old school. He had implicit faith
in his divining rod, which he kept in continual exercise,
applying it on all doubtful occasions. It seemed more
like a house of correction than an academy of learning ;
and when I thought on my father's injunction not to spare
the rod, my heart sickened.

As my school-life was one scene of suffering, I am im-
pelled to hasten it over as briefly as possible ; more par-
ticularly as the abuses, of which I complain, are, if not
altogether remedied, at least mitigated. I was flogged
seldom more than once a day, or caned more than once an
hour. After I had become inured to it, I was callous ;
and was considered by the master the most obdurate,
violent, and incorrigible rascal that had ever fallen under
his hands. Every variation of punishment was inflicted
on me, without effect. As to kindness, it never entered
into his speculations to essay it, since he, possibly, had not
heard of such a thing.

In a short while I grew indifferent to shame and fear.
Every kind and gentle feeling of my naturally affectionate
disposition seemed subdued by the harsh and savage treat-
ment of my master ; and I was sullen, vindictive, or in-
sensible. Vain efforts — for they were ever vain — to avoid
the disgrace of punishment, occupied the minds of others.
I began by venting my rage on the boys, and soon gained
that respect by fear, which I would not obtain by appli-
cation to my book. I thus had my first lesson as to the
necessity of depending on myself; and the spirit in me
was gathering strength, in despite of every endeavour to
destroy it, like a young pine flourishing in the cleft of a
bed of granite.

A YOUNGER SON. 1J

CHAPTER IV.

The relationship of father and son
Is no more valid than a silken leash
Where lions tug adverse ; if iove grow not
From interchanged love through many years. Keats's MS.

He has cast nature off, which was his shield;

And nature casts him off, who is her shame. Shelley.

As my bodily strength increased, I became, out of school,
the leader in all sports and mischief; but, in school, I
was in the lowest class. I was determined not to apply
to learning, and to defy punishment. Indeed, I do not
recollect that any of the boys acquired useful knowledge
there. When satisfied with the ascendancy I had gained
over my schoolfellows, I turned my whole thoughts to
the possibility of revenging myself on the master. I first
tried my hand on his understrapper. Having formed a
party of the most daring of my myrmidons, I planned
and executed a castigation for our tutor. Once a week we
were refreshed by long country walks ; in the course of
one of these the tutor sat down to rest himself ; the boys,
not acquainted with the plot, were busy gathering nuts ;
my chosen band loitered near, preparing rods ; when I,
backed by three of the strongest, fell suddenly upon our
enemy. I got my hand round his dirty cravat, which I
continued twisting ; the others seized his arms and legs,
and threw him on his back. A halloo brought six or
seven more. He several times nearly succeeded in shaking
us off; but I never resigned my hold, and when his
struggles had driven away one boy, another took his place mx
till, completely overcome, he entreated us, as well as he
could articulate, to have mercy, and not to strangle him.
I griped him the tighter, till the sweat dropped from his
brow like rain from the eaves of a pig's-sty. We then
gave him a sample of flogging he could never forget.

The upshot of this is told in a few words. On my
return to school, our pastor and master (for he was
clerical), began to have an inkling of what I and his pupils

12 ADVENTURES OF

were capable. The dreadful narrative which the usher
gave of my violence awakened a dread that the sacredness
of his vocation and sacerdotal robes had been alone re-
spected by our despair of successful opposition ; that
having once tasted of the sweets of victory, we might be
presumptuous enough flatly to refuse obedience to his
commands; that my influence and example encouraged
others ; and that he would daily lose ground in his autho-
rity. This castigation of the usher astonished him. He
opened his eyes to the necessity of using more decisive
steps, and of making an example of me, before I was so
hardened in my audacity, as perhaps to attempt or exe-
cute some plot against him. His caution came too late.
He called me to him, standing three steps above me on a
raised platform. The boys, like young horses, when they
learn their power, were unruly. I stood, not as I had
done, drooping before his angry glances, but upright, and
full of confidence, looking him in the face without quailing.
He accused me — I pleaded my justification — he grew
angry — my blood mounted to my forehead — he struck
me — and I, with one sudden exertion, seized him by the
legs, when he fell heavily on the back of his head. The
usher, writing-master, and others, came to his aid ; but
all the boys sat silent and exulting, awaiting the result in
wonder. I, unwilling to be seized by the usher, who,
between fear of the boys and duty to his employer, stood
irresolute, rushed out of the schoolroom into the garden,
and there was I in triumph. I resolved that nothing
should or could compel me to continue in the school,
which determination I should long before have made, but
from awe of my father's dreadful severity. I had borne
two years of such suffering as few could have sustained ;
nature could endure no more. I was now desperate, and
therefore without hope or fear. I received a message, by
one of the servants, to go into the house. After some
hesitation I went. I was confined in a bedroom by my-
self, and at supper-time bread and water was brought —
spare diet certainly, but not much worse than the usual
fare. I saw no one but the servant. Next day the same
solitude — the same spare diet. At night a bit of candle

A YOUNGER SON. 13

was left to light me to bed ; I know not what impelled
me, I suppose the hope of release, not revenge — I set fire
to the bed-curtains. The bed was in a bright flame, the
smoke arose in clouds : without a thought of escape I
viewed their progress with boyish delight ; the wainscot
and wood-work were beginning to burn, the fire crackling
up the walls, while I could hardly breathe for smoke. The
servant returned for the candle, and as the door opened
the draught augmented the flame. I cried out, (i Look
here, George, I have lighted a fire myself, you said I
should have none, though it was so cold." The man's
shrieks gave the alarm. There was little furniture in this
condemned hold, and the fire was extinguished. I was
removed to another room, where a man sat up all night
with me in custody ; and I remember I exulted in the
dread they all had of me. They called it -arson, treason,
and blasphemy — these accusations made some impression,
because I was ignorant of their meaning. I did not see
my reverend preceptor — perhaps his head ached ; nor
was I permitted to see any of my comrades, — the latter
pained me : nay, I was not permitted to see my brother,
lest I should infect him.

The next morning I was despatched home under a
guard. My father was — O happy chance ! — absent.
An unexpected and considerable fortune had been be-
queathed to him. He returned, and, either softened by
his good luck, or from good policy, he never opened his
lips to me on the subject. But he said to my mother,
" You seem to have influence over your son. I give him
up. If you can induce him to act rationally, be it so ;
if not, he must find another home." I was then about
eleven years old.

To give an idea of the progress I made at this birchen
school, my father, one day after dinner, conversing with
my mother on the monstrous price of learning, and hint-
ing that a parish school in the village, to which he was
compelled to contribute, would have done as well, said,
turning to me, c ' Come, sir, what have you learnt ? "

u Learnt !" I ejaculated, speaking in a hesitating voice,
for my mind misgave me as to what was to follow.

14 ADVENTURES OP

" Is that the way to address me? Speak out, you
dunce ! and say, Sir ! Do you take me for a footboy ? '
raising his voice to a roar, which utterly drove out of my
head what little the schoolmaster had, with incredible
toil and punishment, driven into it. (C What have you
learnt, you raggamuffin ? What do you know?"

" Not much, sir ! "

et What do you know in Latin ? "

" Latin, sir ? I don't know Latin, sir ! "

" Not Latin, you idiot ! Why, I thought they taught
nothing but Latin."

" Yes, sir; ciphering."

" Well, how far did you proceed in arithmetic ? "

" No, sir ! they taught me ciphering and writing."

My father looked grave. " Can you work the rule of
three, you dunce ? "

" Rule of three, sir ! "

iC Do you know subtraction? Come, you blockhead,
answer me ! Can you tell me, if five are taken from
fifteen, how many remain ?"

" Five and fifteen, sir, are " counting on my

fingers, but missing my thumb, " are — are — nineteen
sir ! "

" What ! you incorrigible fool ! — Can you repeat your
multiplication table ? "

« What table, sir?"

Then turning to my mother, he said : " Your son is
a downright idiot, madam, — perhaps knows not his own
name. Write your name, you dolt ! "

" Write, sir ! I can't write with that pen, sir ; it is
not my pen."

" Then spell your name, you ignorant savage ! "

<tf Spell, sir?" I was so confounded that I misplaced
the vowels. He arose in wrath, overturned the table, and
bruised his shins in attempting to kick me, as I dodged
him, and rushed out of the room.

A LOUNGER SON. 15

CHAPTER V.

Oh, gold! why call we misers miserable ?

Theirs is the pleasure that can never pall ;
Theirs is the best bower-anchor, the chain cable

Which holds fast other pleasures, great and small.
Ye who but see the saving man at table,

And scorn his temperate board, as none at all,
And wonder how the wealthy can be sparing,
Know not what visions spring from each cheese-paring. Byrqx,

My father, notwithstanding his increased fortune, did not
increase his expenditure ; nay, he established, if possible,
a stricter system of economy. He had experienced greater
enjoyment in the accumulation of wealth than in the
pleasures of social life. The only symptom he ever
showed of imagination, was in castle-building ; but his
fabrications were founded on a more solid basis than is
usually to be met with among the visions of day dreamers.
No unreal mockery of fairy scenes of bliss found a resting
place in his bosom. Ingots, money, lands, houses, and
tenements, constituted his dreams. He became a mighty
arithmetician, by the aid of a Ready Reckoner, his pocket
companion ; he set down, to a fraction, the sterling value
of all his and his wife's relations, their heirs at law, their
nearest of kin, their ages, and the state of their constitu-
tions. The insurance table was examined to calculate the
value of their lives ; to this he added the probable chances
arising from diseases, hereditary and acquired, always
forgetting his own gout. He then determined to regulate
his conduct accordingly; to maintain the most friendly
intercourse with his wealthy connections, and to keep aloof
from poor ones. Having no occasion to borrow, his aver-
sion to lending amounted to antipathy. All his discourses,
with those whorri he suspected to be needy, were inter-
larded with the wise sayings of the prudent and niggardly ;
and the distrust and horror he expressed at the slightest
allusion to loans, unbacked by security and interest, had
the effect of making the most impudent and adventurous
desist from essaying him, and continue in their necessities,

16 ADVENTURES OF

or beg, or rob, or starve, in preference to urging their
wants to him. Till he was rich, he had not been so ob-
durate on this point.

We never sat down to table without a lecture on economy.
It was a natural consequence that I, thwarted on all sides
till I had acquired a spirit of contradiction, should be in-
corrigibly free and generous. I was stirred up to evade, by
cunning, his parsimony towards myself and others. I was
detected in many delinquencies, having little respect for
personal property, which is generally the vice of those who
have none. Eatables diminished in the pantry, and from
the cupboard ; wine, sweatmeats, and fruit, as I had a par-
ticular relish for them, owing to their being almost inter-
dicted, strangely vanished. But at last I was convicted of
a heinous sin, which appeared of so monstrous and unpre-
cedented a character, that it was never forgiven or forgotten.
My father cursed his fate at having such a degenerate son ;
and that I might not infect others with my example, and
utterly ruin him, he resolved forthwith to get rid of me.

The sin I had committed was extracting from its sanc-
tuary, and giving to a beggar-woman, an entire pigeon-pie,
dish and all. Perhaps the offence would never have been
discovered, if the officiously conscientious old woman had
not returned with the empty pie-dish. I hated her honesty,
and never afterwards could endure old women. The poor
creature was summoned by my father; she heard his threats
of the stocks, and the house of correction, of a charge of
felony, and transportation, without betraying me ; nor do I
think he could have elicited the truth, had I not stepped
forward and confessed the fact. I shall never forget my
father's wrath. He said, I was not only a thief, but a har-
dened one ; and vented some portion of his rage in cuffs and
kicks. I stood firmly, as I had done to my schoolmaster,
for I had learnt to endure, and my hide had grown thick
and horny from blows. I neither wept nor asked for mercy.
When his hands and feet were weary, he said,

" Get out of my sight, you scoundrel !" I moved not
a foot, but looked at him scowlingly and undauntedly.

Lest it should be imagined there was something par-
ticularly evil in me, requiring the utmost severity, I must

A YOUNGER SON. 17

add that my father ruled my brother and sisters with the
same iron rod j the only difference was, it could not rule me,
and therefore I was not to be endured. Let one instance
of his ferocity suffice — one which happened several years
after this, when he was residing in London.

It was his custom to appropriate a room in the house to
the conservation of those things he loved, — choice wines,
foreign preserves, cordials. This sanctum sanctorum was
a room on the ground floor, under a skylight. Our next-
door neighbour's pastime happened to be a game of balls,
when one of them lodged on the leaded roof of this con-
secrated room. Two of my sisters, of the ages of fourteen
and sixteen, though, in appearance, they were women, ran
from the drawing-room back- window to seek for the ball ;
and slipping on the leads, the younger fell through the sky-
light, on the bottles and jars upon the table below. She
was dreadfully bruised, and her hands, legs, and face were
cut ; so much so, that she still retains the scars. Her sister
gave the alarm. My mother wTas called ; she went to the
door of the storeroom ; her child screamed out, for God's
sake to open the door, — she was bleeding to death. She con-
tinued to scream, while my mother endeavoured to comfort
her, but dared not break the lock, as my father had pro-
hibited any one from entering this, his blue chamber ; and,
what was worse, he had the key. Other keys were tried,
but none could open the door. Had I been there, my foot
should have picked the lock. Will it be believed that, in
that state, my sister was compelled to await my father's
return from the House of Commons, of which he was a
member ? What an admirable legislator ! At last, when
he returned, my mother informed him of the accident, and
tried to allay the wrath which she saw gathering on his brow.
He took no notice of her, but paced forward to the closet,
where the delinquent, awed by his dreadful voice, hushed
her sobs. He opened the door and found her there, scarcely
able to stand, trembling and weeping. Without speaking a
word, he kicked and cuffed her out of the room, and then
gloomily decanted what wine remained in the broken bottles.

18

ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER VI.

And now I'am in the world alone,

Upon the wide, wide sea ;
But why should I for others groan,

When none will sigh for me ? Byron.

There was some talk of my going to Oxford, as one of my
uncles had livings in his gift, which my father could not,
without pain, contemplate as property out of the family. I
was consulted ; but the decided manner in which I declined
priesthood^ left no hopes of my ever being guided by self-
interest.

Soon after this, I was taken to Portsmouth, and shipped
on board a line-of- battle ship, the Superb, as passenger to
join one of Nelson's squadron. She was commanded by
Captain Keates ; and thence we sailed to Plymouth to take
on board Admiral Duckworth, who hoisted his flag, and
detained the ship three days to get mutton and potatoes from
Cornwall. By this delay, we unfortunately fell in with the
Nelson fleet off Trafalgar, two days after his deathless
victory.

Young as I was, I shall never forget our failing in with
the Pickle schooner off Trafalgar, carrying the first de-
spatches of the battle and death of its hero. We had
chased her many hours out of our course, and but that our
ship sailed well, and the wind was fresh, we should not
have brought her to. Her commander, burning with im-
patience to be the first to convey the news to England,
was compelled, to heave to, and come on board us. Cap-
tain Keates received him on the deck, and when he heard
the news, I was by his side. Silence reigned throughout
the ship ; some great event was anticipated ; the officers
stood in groups, watching, with intense anxiety, the two
commanders, who walked apart : battle, — Nelson, —
ships, — were the only audible words which could be
gathered from this conversation. I saw the blood rush
into Keates's face ; he stamped the deck, walked hurriedly,
and spoke as in a passion. I marvelled, for I had never
before seen him much moved ; he had appeared cool, firm,

A YOUNGER SON. JQ

and collected on all occasions,, and it struck me that some
awful event had taken place, or was at hand.

The admiral was still in his cabin, eager for news from
the Nelson fleet. He was an irritable and violent man
and had been much incensed at the schooner's having dis-
obeyed his signal, until she was compelled. After a few
minutes, swelling with wrath, he sent an order to Keates ;
who possibly heard it not, but staggered along the deck,
struck to the heart by the news, and, for the first time in
his life, forgot his respect to his superior in rank ; mut-
tering, as it seemed, curses on his fate that, by the ad-
miral's delay, he had not participated in the most glorious
battle in naval history. Another messenger enforced him,
such is discipline, to descend in haste to the admiral, who
was high in rage and impatience.

Keates, for I followed him, on entering the admiral's
cabin, said, in a subdued voice, as if he wrere choking :
<c A great battle has been fought, twro days ago, off Tra-
falgar. The combined fleets of France and Spain are
annihilated, and Nelson is no more!" He then mur-
mured, — " Had we not been detained, wTe should have
been there. The captain of the schooner entreats you,
Sir, not to detain him, and destroy his hopes, as you have
destroyed ours."

Duckworth answered not, conscience-struck, but stalked
on deck. He seemed ever to avoid the look of his captain,
and turned to converse with the commander of the
schooner, who replied, in sulky brevity, " yes," or Ci no."
Then dismissing him, he ordered all sail to be set, and
walked the quarter-deck alone. A deathlike stillness per-
vaded the ship, broken at intervals by the low murmurs
of the crew and officers, when " battle" and cc Nelson,"
could alone be distinguished. Sorrow and discontent were
painted on every face j and I sympathised in the feeling
without a clear knowledge of the cause.

On the following morning, we fell in with a portion of
the victorious fleet. It was blowing a gale, and they
lay wrecks on the sea. Our admiral communicated with
them, and then joining Collingwood, had six sail of the
line put under his command, with orders to pursue that
c 2

20 ADVENTURES OF

part of the enemy's fleet which had escaped ; and I joined
the ship to which I was appointed. It is unnecessary to
dwell on the miseries of a cockpit life ; I found it more
tolerable than my school, and little worse than my home.
Besides, I was treated with exceeding kindness, and I
began to be delighted with the profession. We returned
to Portsmouth. The captain wrote to my father to know
what he should do with me, as his ship was about to be
paid off. My father, in his reply, determined not to have
me at home, ordered that I should instantly be sent to
Dr. Burney's navigation school. I was horror-stricken at
this news, thinking I had done with schools ; and, sup-
posing they were all like my former one, I anticipated a
state of suffering.

We had had a rough passage, being five or six sail of
the line in company, some totally, and others partially
dismasted. Our ship, having been not only dismasted,
but razed by the enemy's shots (that is, the upper deck
almost cut away), our passage home was boisterous.-
The gallant ship, whose lofty canvass, a few days before,
had fluttered almost amidst the clouds, as she bore down
on the combined fleets, vauntingly called the Invincible,
now, though her torn banner still waved aloft victorious,
was crippled, jury-masted, and shattered, a wreck labouring
in the trough of the sea, and driven about at the mercy of
the wild waves and winds. With infinite toil and peril,
amidst the shouts and reverberated hurrahs from suc-
cessive ships, we passed on, towed into safe moorings at
Spithead.

What a scene of joy then took place. From the ship
to the shore one might have walked on a bridge of boats,
struggling to get alongside. Some, breathless with anxiety,
eagerly demanded the fate of brothers, sons, or fathers,
which was followed by joyous clasping and wringing of
hands, and some returned to the shore, pale, haggard, and
heart- stricken. Then came the extortionary Jew, chuck-
ling with ecstacy at the usury he was about to realise
from anticipated prize-money, proffering his gold with a
niggard's hand, and demanding monstrous security and
interest for his monies. Huge bumboats, filled with fresh

A YOUNGER SON. 21

provisions, and a circle of boats hung round us, crammed
with sailors' wives, children, and doxies, thick as locusts.
These last poured in so fast, that of the eight thousand
said to belong at that period to Portsmouth and Gosport,
I hardly think they could have left eight on shore. In a
short period they seem to have achieved what the com-
bined enemies' fleets had vauntingly threatened — to have
taken entire possession of the Trafalgar squadron. I re-
member, the following day, while the ship was dismant-
ling, these scarlet sinners hove out the three first thirty-
two pound guns ; I think there were not less than three
or four hundred of them heaving at the capstan.

Our captain, suffering from a severe wound, went on
shore, and gave me, with two youngsters like myself, in
very particular charge to one of the master's mates, who
shortly after crossed over with us to Gosport. He had
orders to convey us to Dr. Burney's.

CHAPTER VII.

If any person should presume to assert
This story is not moral, first I pray,
That they will not cry out before they 're hurt, Byron.

Old Noah and his heterogeneous family felt not greater
pleasure in setting their feet on terra firma than we did.
The mate's face, which had been, by long habit of obe-
dience and command, settled into a wooden sort of gravity,
now relaxed, and became animated as a merry-andrew's.
Looking about as if he had taken entire possession of the
island, and as if he considered it treason and blasphemy
in any of his subjects to appear malecontent, he turned
sharply to me, and said, " Holla ! my lad, what's the
matter? Why, you are as chap-fallen as if it was Sun-
day, and the prayer-bell was ringing. You don't take
me for that lubberly school ^mastering parson on board,
do you ? "

c 3

22 ADVENTURES OP

He had nearly hit it. The accursed school had crossed
my mind, and I guessed he was taking us there. How-
ever, I said nothing, and he continued, " Never go to
church on shore or in soundings. At sea can't help it
sometimes. Besides, then there is something to pray for
- — fair weather and prize-money — don't want to pray
for any thing on shore. Come, my lads, keep a sharp
look-out for the Crown and Anchor. It should be some-
where in these latitudes, if it has not driven or slipped its
moorings/'

'* A reprieve ! " thought I ; " he has forgotten the
school, and we are bound to the tavern ! " I stepped out
like an unbitted colt as I descried the glittering crown
swinging over a tavern-door. I pointed it out, and he
was just taking us in, when he suddenly stopped, and
rubbing his brow, said, " Hold fast, my lads ! Let me
see — let me see — did 'nt the captain tell me to — to —
take these lads — to — • where the devil is it ? I say,
lads, where are you to go ? "

2; Go ! " we repeated.

" Ay, I was ordered to take you somewhere. Damned
odd you don't know, and I can't remember. O, ay, I
have it ! — to Dr. — somebody at Gosport. Ay, ay, I've
heard of the fellow. Remember they, would have sent
me there once- — too sharp for 'em —-keep too good a look-
out— not such a lubber as that comes to. But must
obey orders — humph ! — but I've liberty now — not
under the pennant — do as I like. Well, lads, what do
you say ? Will you go to the school, or — come, you're
looking round the offing, as if you were thinking of cut-
ting and running ! " — (which was indeed true.) " Well,
my lads, we can talk over this with a glass of grog. Lots
of time — I've three days' liberty! So, if you obey
orders, why I sha'n't disobey mine, if I see your names
entered on the doctor's books before I report myself on
board. So heave a-head, my lads ! "

On the waiter's showing us into a room, bustling about,
and waiting for orders, our commodore asked us what we
would have, and, turning to the waiter, who was stirring
'die fire, vociferated, " What a dust vou are kicking up !

A YOUNGER SON.

23

If you don't bring some grog to clear our coppers, I'll see
if a kick a-atern won't freshen your way. Hold fast !"
stopping him. " Come, my lads, don't you feel the land
wind getting into your orlop deck ? Has it struck seven
bells?"

" No, Sir/' said the waiter ; " it's only ten o'clock."

" No matter ; let's have some grub."

" What would you like, Sir ? — very nice cold round
of beef and ham in the house."

" No, no ! What, do you want to give us the scurvy,
you lubberly scoundrel ? ''

" Would you like a cutlet, Sir, or beef steak ? "

C( Ay, ay, that will do. Come, why don't you move
your stumps, you landsman. — Hold fast ! Can't you
grill some fowls ? "

" Yes, Sir, there's a nice chicken in the larder."

<< D — n your chicken ! Griii a hen-coop full of fowls,
I say, and be quick. And mind, if they ar'n't here in
five minutes, tell Mother — what d'ye call her ? — the
landlady, I'll come and grill her. Well, why don't you
move ? Hold fast ! — why, where the devil is the grog ?
, — ordered it an hour ago." He then shyed his gold-
laced cocked hat, and drove the waiter out of the room.

After a monstrous meal, diluted with an unsparing hand,
ships and schools clear out of our memory, we all sallied
out, our pilot taking us into a variety of shops, in every
one of which he ordered something, or made some purchase,
and told us to take any thing we wanted, for he would
pay for it, observing that these fellows knew him, and
would not humbug him as they would us. He made a
point of penetrating into their little back-parlours, to see
their wives and daughters, and get a glass of grog.

During this cruize, as he called it, he invited every
messmate, as well as every person he had seen before, to
dine with him at two o'clock at the tavern ; and he made
appointments with all the young women of his acquaint-
ance, which were not a few, ordering them to go home,
like good girls, sweep the decks, put their cabins in order,
clean themselves, meet him at the theatre, and tell their
mothers to see their case-bottles properly filled, — no
c 4

24? ADVENTURES OP

marines among them, — with plenty of grog in their
lockers. He then, for he was very provident and system-
atic in his arrangements, went to the theatre, engaged
two or three boxes, and returned to the Crown and Anchor,
complaining of his " dry duty/'

His straggling acquaintances were soon dropping in.
Wild, rough, and unruly were their greetings. The din-
ner came, and the viands miraculously vanished. The
bottles flew about, the empty dishes were cleared away,
and dried fruit, and wines of all kinds, with sundry cut-
glass bottles of brandy, hollands, shrub, and rum, gar-
nished the board. Toasts, songs, and un clerical jests
wended away the time, till our methodical master's mate,
who was president, said, —

" Ye sea- whelps, stopper your jaw, or I'll hand ye,
youngsters, over to the doctor ; — you understand me !
Now, my hearties, what say you to a turn-out ? It's time
for the play ; and you know to church and play-houses
wre must go sober — - in respect to parsons and ladies.
It's unofScer-rike to get drunk before sunset ; it's not cor-
rect, and I shan't allow it. So, come, I've only one more
toast to give, — then I hoist the blue-peter, and you must
consider yourselves under sailing orders." Here he was
interrupted by the noise in the room. ee Silence ! I say ;
now, gentlemen, fill your glasses ! No heeltaps, for I
am going to give a solemn toast. I am very sorry to ob-
serve that, from the neglect of duty of these lubberly
landsmen, there's nothing but marines and bottoms on the
table. Therefore, I command that you all gripe a marine
by the stock, and prepare to break their necks." The
waiter remonstrated, and begged the president to spare
the bottles. " Lads ! " he vociferated, " a mutiny ! Stand
by your commanding officer ! Waiter, go below, — leave
the quarter-deck. Oh, you wo'nt? Now, lads, one —
two — and when I say — three, remember that is your
target," — pointing to the waiter, " and break his neck ! "

The scared serving-man withdrew at the critical instant,
and every empty bottle was smashed against the door.
The memory of Nelson was then pledged, and we all
sallied into the High-street. I thought the air was im-

A YOUNGER SON. 25

pregnated with alcohol, for, when I got out, 1 felt the
first symptoms of drunkenness.

I remember nothing mere of the theatre than that the
audience was exclusively composed of sailors and their
female companions. Had the great bell of St. Paul's been
sounding, instead of the tinkling music between the acts,
it would not have been heard. About midnight we supped
in the same manner we had dined, and again turned out.
Watchmen, dockyard-men, and red coats were assaulted
wherever we fell in with them. The master's mate, not-
withstanding the enormous quantity of liquors of all sorts
contained in his body, had a head no more affected by
them than the wooden bung of a rum-puncheon. But
this being my first drunken bout, I cannot say I saw very
clearly ; for the houses appeared to roll and pitch like
ships. Neither could 1 walk very well, for in the broadest
street I broke my shins against the curbstones on each
side of the way. As I grounded on every tack I made,
beating it up, I thought the street had neither beginning
nor end. But the master's mate kept stragglers together,
till we arrived at what he called head- quarters. He
there entrusted me and the two others into the custody
of a fiery-faced, flaming, old harridan, with strict in-
junctions regarding her treatment of us; to which she
replied she would take as much care of us as of her own
children. In the mean while, he went out to survey the
coast, promising to return, and ordering a bed, a warm-
ing-pan, a red herring, and a bowl of punch, to be all in
readiness by his return.

Our careful, obedient, and moral hostess, with more
than a mother's care, ordered a bed to be prepared for
each of us striplings, mixed each of us a glass of strong
waters, and then, sagely observing that late hours were
bad for young blood, led me to bed first. She put one of
her own caps on my head, tied it under my chin with a
blue riband, closed the curtains, called me a sweet creature,
tucked me up, slobbered my cheek, and parted from me
with — " Be a good boy, now; and mind you say your
prayers before you go to sleep ! "

About daylight, I woke from unquiet and suffocating

26

ADVENTURES OF

dreams. Had I been previously acquainted with that
phantom, the night-mare, I might have imagined myself
under its influence; but my astonishment was great to
find myself in my small couch. While endeavouring to
distinctly recollect how I got there, the maid of the tene-
ment appeared, and the mystery was solved.

After some delay in procuring the necessaries for a
morning ablution, I dressed ; and, directed by the mate's
well-known voice, entered the parlour, ashamed, foolish,
and dreading his rebukes, not knowing, or not then con-
sidering him as the cause.

Though he was very methodical, he was no methodist,
at least in preaching. His and their practice may be near
akin. There he sat, like an emperor, or Abyssinian
prince, (according to Bruce,) his august person occupying
the old hostess's honoured arm-chair, and in exclusive
possession of the fire. Cups, saucerless and chipped, a
handless teapot, a piece of salt butter wrapped in brown
paper, sugar on a broken plate, and soddened buttered-
toast, half eaten, and tooth-marked, were scattered about,
with fat of ham and sausage.

These my first sins ought to find a place in my last will
and testament ; but to whom am I to bequeath them ?
to my father ? the captain ? or the master's mate ? Surely
the most malicious enemy can never cast in my teeth what
I committed at about twelve years old.

A day or two after this, our master's mate conducted us
to school, and delivered us over in precise terms. The
schoolmaster was so pleased with his modest carriage and
address, as to ask him to dinner. He excused himself,
under the plea of ship-duty, and returned, I suppose, to
"head-quarters;" not, however, before he had slipped
a couple of guineas into each of our hands, which he
wrung heartily, telling us to apply to him for any thing
we wanted, and to say nothing to the old hunkses about
the past. Thus we lost sight of him for ever.

A YOUNGER SON,

27

CHAPTER VIII.

A barren soil, where nature's germs, confined,

To stern sterility can stint the mind ;

Whose thistle well betrays the niggard earth,

Emblem of all to whom the land gives birth.

Each geni?l influence nurtured to resist,

A land of meanness, sophistry, and mist. Byron*.

Many of the boys in the school, like myself, had been
to sea. There were considerably more than a hundred.
It was understood that I was only to remain there until
appointed to a ship.

One circumstance alone connected with this school lives
freshly in my memory. Captain Morris had given me
a letter to forward to my father ; and, on my way to the
post- office, I was accompanied by a schoolfellow, a lad of
about sixteen, who had been two years at sea. He asked
to look at the letter, handled it, felt something, peeped into
it, and exclaimed, iC A prize, by Jove ! " He inquired
who had given it to me, and upon hearing that it came
from the captain, instantly guessed at its contents. " O !
then," said he, ie it is a balance of the money your father
gave him for you. Why, you won't be such a greenhorn
as to send it, will you ? "

I answered, cc Certainly ! "

(e Lord ! what nonsense!" he continued, "it is your
own ! And with this you can get everything you want."

Then he jeered me for being pennyless ; and went on
till I began to reflect on my father's niggardliness, and
that I might never meet with such another opportunity. I
listened to his argument, that at any rate I had a right to
a portion of the money, because a boy ought to have
money in his pocket. While talking, he broke the seal,
and cried out, " See, it is open by accident, quite by
accident ; and here is the money ! ** A sight of the
enclosure, as he foresaw, was more effective than his
oratory. The sum was indeed a very small one, though I
thought it inexhaustible. By my comrade's kind assistance

28 ADVENTURES OF

it was quickly expended, my share being swallowed up in
the purchase of a gun, powder, and shot; he had the
larger portion.

The ensuing morning we went out a birding. My
companion let me have the first shot, and then, as we had
agreed to fire alternately, I gave him the gun. Here I was
foiled, for he insisted on retaining the gun. I entreated
him to let me have my turn, but in vain ; I taxed him
with his breach of word, and murmured that it was my
gun : upon which the muzzle of the gun was pointed at
me, and I was kicked. Thus we went on, till weary of
finding nothing to kill, or, which is the same, being unable
to kill anything, towards noon we were both hungry,
when he ordered me to part with my last crown to buy
refreshment from a farm-house. There was no choice \
he, with the gun, was my master. After this, growing
insolent, his commands were, that I should put up my
hat for him to have a shot at it. I at first refused ; but
he swore that he would permit me to have the second fire
at my own hat, and then, if I did not put as many shot
in it as he did, I was to lose the crown. To this I agreed ;
he fired, and gave me the gun loaded. The instant it was
in my hand, I pointed it, not at my hat, but at the hat on
his head, exclaiming, " Hat for hat ! " and pulled the
trigger. He looked aghast, and screamed out, " You'll
shoot me!" I told him I intended as much, and snapped
again. It was not primed. Luckily his cunning for once
saved his life. He ran off; I primed the gun and fol-
lowed him ; he had got forty or fifty yards a-head ; when,
as he was jumping a hedge, I stopped and fired. He
fell ; and my rage instantly turned into sorrow. He lay
on his face, shrieking out he was killed. I put the gun
down, which was now offensive to his sight, and went up
to him. He was dreadfully frightened, and a little hurt,
begging me not to do him further harm, and declaring he
should die. Good luck had directed the shot exactly to the
part where he merited the birch. On repeated assurances
that he was not much hurt, I persuaded him to let me
lead him home. Before he arrived at the school he was
much better. He then complained to the master, contrary

A YOUNGER SON. 29

to the terms I had bound him to by oath. The master,
without appealing to me, laid a deodand on the gun, and
placed me under confinement.

At the expiration of two' days I was sent for, lectured,
and informed that a letter from my father directed my
being sent on board a frigate then fitting for sea. On the
following morning I went on board. We went to sea in
a few days, and cruized off Havre-de- Grace. The captain
was intimately acquainted with my family. He was a
red-gilled, sycophantic Scotchman, the son of an attorney,
and had bowed and smirked himself into the notice of
royalty. His first lieutenant was a Guernseyman, a
low-bred, mean-spirited, malicious scoundrel, who disliked
all who were better than himself, — and that was every one.
However, there was a fine set of boys for my messmates,
so that the time passed on tolerably well at first. Yet I
now saw the navy was not suited to me. The captain
being entrusted with unlimited power, it depended on his
humours to make a heaven or hell of his ship. I was no
studier of men's humours, no truckler to those in power ;
consequently I was hated. I was soon dissatisfied, and
longed for freedom. Then, in the navy, I had looked for-
ward to active service and fighting ; here was none, nor
the probability of any, while many told me they had been
all their lives at sea, without seeing a shot fired. In short,
the battle of Trafalgar seemed the last act of naval war-
fare, and old Duckworth's passion for Cornish mutton and
potatoes had prevented my initiation into the profession
with glory, which might have urged me to persevere.

Nothing is so slavish and abject as the deportment of
junior officers on board a man-of-war. You must not
even look at your superior with discontent. Your hat
must be ever in your hand, bowing in token of sub-
mission to all above you. Then, if the captain or any
of the lieutenants happen to dislike you, so utterly are
you in their power, that existence becomes scarcely en-
durable. How much soever you may be in the right,
it matters not ; for your superiors, like majesty, can do
no wrong, and opposition is fruitless.

This may be necessary to the effective discipline of the

SO ADVENTURES OF

navy or not. No one can deny it is an evil ; and this is
certain, — that all, whilst in subordinate situations, complain
of it as an evil, and resolve, when they possess the power,
to remedy it. But good intentions, when the period
arrives for executing them, are forgotten or no longer
considered good. To make alterations is then called a
dangerous innovation, a bad precedent, an impossibility.
They expound their new creed in 'specious common-places :
ce we must do as others do ; things go on well as they are ;
it is presumption to attempt change :" thus glossing over
their own natural desire to tyrannise in their turn, often
strongest in those who have been most severely treated.
They continue following the beaten track, and perpetuating
a system, no. matter how corrupt ; and if they live only
for themselves, they act, as the world calls it, prudently,
if not wisely. As Bacon says of the ant, " It is a wise
creature for itself, but a shrewd thing in an orchard or
garden/' For every one opposes with hate every one that
purposes an alteration, because it implies that every one
has hitherto been in error, and, what is equally humiliating,
has not been consulted. Reformers, in all ages, whatever
has been their object, have been unpitied martyrs; and
the multitude have evinced a savage exultation in their
sacrifice. ei Let in the light upon a nest of young owls,
and they cry out against the injury you have done them."
Men of mediocrity are young owls : when you present
them with strong and brilliant ideas, they exclaim against
them as false, dangerous, and deserving of punishment :
" Every abuse attempted to be reformed is the patrimony
of those who have more influence than the reformers."

A YOUNGER SON. SI

CHAPTER IX.

And from that hour did I, with earnest thought,
Heap knowledge from forbidden mines of lore j

Yet nothing that my tyrants knew or taught
I cared to learn, but from that secret store
Wrought linked armour for my soul, before

It might walk forth to war among mankind. Shelley.

Had it been optional, I would now have left the navy ;
notwithstanding my passion for the sea was undiminished.
I felt it was not in my nature to submit to a long appren-
ticeship of servitude. Before I could possibly be a master,
fourteen or more years might elapse ; and fourteen years
then seemed to me a long life. From that time forward,
I brooded exclusively on the possibility of breaking my
indentures, and seeking my own fortunes, as tales and his-
tories tell us people did in the olden times. But then my
friendless situation, and ignorance of the world, appeared
an effectual bar ; and still my neart yearned at the recol-
lection of my mother, whom I then almost worshipped,
and of my sisters. A thousand tender remembrances of
early life clung to my heart ; while the continued perse-
cution of my fate, long absence, neglect, and the memory of
my stern and unforgiving father, made me of a desponding
and unhappy disposition. But to continue my narrative.

At this period of my life, an involuntary passion was
awakened in my bosom for reading ; so that I seized on
every occasion for borrowing and collecting books, and
every leisure moment for reading them. Old plays, voy-
ages, and travels were my principal study ; and I almost
learned by heart Captain Bligh's Narrative of his Voyage
to the South-sea Islands, and of the mutiny of his crew.
Hi« partial account did not deceive me. I detested him
for his tyranny, and Christian was my hero. I wished
his fate had been mine, and longed to emulate him. It
left an impression on my mind which has had a marked
influence on my life.

Our captain's clerk, seeing I had a good store of books,
with no place to put tfeem in, thought they would be an

32 ADVENTURES OF

ornament to his cabin, for he never read. He proposed
to take care of them for me, offering me the use of his
cabin, where I might read them. I gladly acquiesced in
what I, simple fool that I then was, thought a most kind
offer ; and, for a few days, we got on very well together.
One day I went for a book ; he was angry about something
or nothing, and had the impudence to say, " You may read
here if you like ; but I will not permit any books to be
taken out of my cabin."

Ci Are they not mine ? " I asked.

" Not now;" he replied.

(C What ! " I then asked, ' e do you intend to keep pos-
session of my books ? "

To this I received no other answer than, — " Come —
none of your insolence j "

Upon this I said, " Give me my books ; I will leave
them here no longer, now I see your object." He dared
me to touch them ; I snatched one from the shelf ; he
struck me ; I returned the blow. It was then harmless
as the unweaned colt's.

My opponent was two or three and twenty, strong and
thick-set; I a tall slim boy of fourteen. The presump-
tion of my returning his blow so astonished his cowardly
nature, that, for a moment, he hesitated what to do. But
some of the youngsters had collected round the door,
and cried out, " Well done, my boy ! " which incensed
the paltry, dirty scrawler. He seized hold of me, and
vociferating, " You young rascal, I will tame you !" gave
me a blow with a ruler, which he broke over my head ;
then jammed me up against the bulkhead, so that I could
not escape, and belaboured me without mercy. As long as
my strength lasted, I opposed him. The lookers-on were
encouraging me, and exclaiming shame on him. My head
grew dizzy from blows ; my mouth and nose were bleed-
ing profusely ; my body was subdued, but not my spirit.
I asked not for mercy, but defied him ; and on his attempt-
ing to kick me out of the cabin, I increased his fury, by
declaring I would not leave it till he had given me my
books. We were thus contending, he to force me out, and
I to remain in, when he kicked me in the stomach, and I

A YOUNGER SON. 33

lay motionless ; while he roared and sputtered, — <€ Get
out, you rascal ! or I '11 knock the life out of you ! **

I felt I could no longer resist. I was in despair. The
being beaten like a hound by a dastardly brute, and the
insulting and triumphant language the fellow used, made
me mad. My eye caught, by chance, something glittering
close to me. The table was capsised, and a penknife within
my grasp. The prospect of revenge renewed my strength.
I seized it, and, repeating his words of knocking the life
out of me, I added, as I held up the weapon, ce Coward !
look out for your own ! **

I was then on one knee, struggling to get up. On seeing
the knife, and my wild look haggard with passion, the
mender of pens shrunk back. After this, all I remember
is, that I stabbed him in several places, and that he shut
his eyes, held his hands up to his face, and screamed out
in terror for mercy. Some one then called to me, with
Ci Holloa! what are you at?" — I turned round, and re-
plied, " This cowardly ruffian was beating me to death,
and I have killed him !" — I then threw down the knife,
took up my book, and walked out of the cabin.

Presently a serjeant of marines was sent down, with an
order to bring me on deck. The captain was there sur-
rounded by his officers. He inquired of the first lieutenant
what was the matter ; and the answer was,

u This youngster went into your clerk's cabin, sir, with
a carving knife, and has killed him/'

The captain looked at me with horror, and, without
asking a question, said, u Kill my clerk ; put the mur-
derer in irons, and handcuff him. Kill my clerk!" — I
attempted to speak ; but was stopped with, " Gag him ;
Take him down below instantly. Not a word, sir ! Kill
my clerk I"

As the serjeant attempted to collar me, I said, " Hands
off!" looked fiercely, for I now thought myself a man,
and walked slowly down the hatchway. A sentinel was
put over me, and the master-at-arms brought the irons.
But, I suppose, the captain, by that time, bad heard a
different version of the story; for a midshipman, named
Murray, came down, and countermanded the manacling

D

34) ADVENTURES OP

part of the sentence ; and then, addressed himself to me,
said, iC Don't mind, they can't hurt you. We will tell the
truth. You have acted like a man. Keep up your spirits/'

' ( Never fear me ! " I replied.

Some hours after, the captain came to me, and said,
" Are you not ashamed of your conduct, sir ? "

I answered, " No ! "

" What, sir ! is that the way to answer me ? Get up,
sir, and take off your hat." I told him I was waiting for
the irons. I, however, stood up.

" You will be hanged, sir, for murder ! "

I replied, " I had rather be hanged, than kicked by
your servants."

« Why, are you mad, sir ? "

ce Yes ! your ill-treatment has made me so. You, and
your French lieutenant, are always punishing and abusing
me without cause, and I will not submit to it. I came
into the navy, an officer and a gentleman, and I am treated
like a dog. Put me on shore ! I will do no more duty ;
and I will allow neither you nor your domestics to abuse
and beat me/'

With that I advanced a step towards him, from what
motive I know not. He seized me by the collar, and
bade me sit down on the gun-carriage. " No!" I con-
tended, " you told me never to sit down in your presence,
and I will not ! "

iC Will not ! " said he, holding me tightly, and nearly
strangling me with his grasp. I could not speak, but put
my hand up to release myself; upon which, repeating the
words, " You will not ! " he gave me a violent blow in the
face ; and I, with another " No ! " had the audacity to spit
in his.

His flushed brow turned from deep scarlet to almost
black in an instant. He could not articulate a word ; but,
dashing me from him with all his might, turned into his
cabin, choking with rage. Many of the officers, particu-
larly the midshipmen, had gathered round. — I got up
from the gun-carriage on which I had fallen. Two of my
messmates c«me up to me and said, " Well done, my lad,
don't be afraid."

A YOUNGER SON. 35

" Do I look so ?" was my reply.

At sunset,, I was told I might go below ; but I was
never to show myself on deck. I never saw the gorbellied
Scotch captain afterwards.

All the rest of the cruise was holiday to me. I got my
books,, and endeavoured, by reading, to make up for my
want of education. The clerk recovered, and, though he
took care to give me a wide berth, when obliged to pass
near me, I was malicious enough to say, pointing to a
large scar on his cheek, " Though you are a clerk, don't
cabbage books, or kick a gentleman.', He was the son of
our noble captain's tailor, and his preferment was a Scotch
devise to pay his father's bill.

CHAPTER X.

The ocean with its vastness, its blue green,
Its ships, its rocks, its caves, its hopes, its fears,
Its voice mysterious, which whoso hears

Must think on what will be, or what has been. Keats.

On our return to an English port, I was drafted on board
a guard-ship at Spithead ; and, without hearing a word
from my father, was shortly redrafted on board a sloop of
war. Though young, I had pride enough to forbear
useless remonstrances, or whining complaints, and philoso-
phy enough to endure. From my childhood I had been
inured to commands forced upon me, so I tried to look
with indifference, and knitted my brows to stifle my
emotions.

Hitherto I had at least been consigned into the hands
of men who knew my family ; but now I was suddenly
drafted into a ship where all were utter strangers, without
money, and ill provided with necessaries. For I was not
a €C carefu* prudent bairn," as a Scotch midshipman was,
whose parents had sent him to sea, with a very small sup-
ply of clothes for his back, but with a head crammed with

36

ADVENTURES OP

Scotch maxims, such as "a bawbee saved is a bawbee
got," and " mony a little makes a mickle." This haggis-
fed, sandy-haired sharper had extracted most of my traps
out my chest on board the guard-ship, in which I was in-
carcerated till appointed to a ship. Some one detecting
him with a bundle of stray articles, old tooth brushes, bits
of soap, foul linen, &c, in the act of depositing them in
his bag, asked him what he was at ; and he replied, " Anly
picking up the wee things about the deck/' This Cale-
donian lurcher had the effrontery to confess he had three
or four dozen of shirts with every one a different mark ;
the scoundrel having pilfered thirty or forty boys. He
had too much prudence, I too little. No one troubled
himself to inquire into my wants, and to sea I went again
in a sloop of war.

We proceeded to Cadiz, Lisbon, South America, and
the coast of Africa. We Were eighteen months absent,
and had visited the four quarters of the world ; so that I
picked up a little practical geography whilst going over
thirty thousand miles.

Our commander was a surveying captain, a little, pert,
pragmatical fellow ; and, like most little fellows, thought
himself a very great man. The only thing I can remem-
ber of ithis small commander is, that he used to twist and

s
screw his h%d aside to look up at me, and snarl ; and

then, with words too big to find utterance from his diminu-
tive mouth, shrilly say, " You overgrown monster, you
logger-headed fellow, without nerve or feeling, what are
you idling here for, instead of attending to my com-
mands ? "

He hated me because I was framed like a man, and I
despised him because he so little resembled one. Some-
times he would jump on a carronade slide to box the men's
heads.

As, in after life, I revisited most of the world in detail,
with expanded faculties and awakened feelings, I shall not
narrate my puerile detail of events. I loathe the prattle
of talkative gawky boys, and mothers' talented darlings ;
it is as irksome as a dedication in the " Spectator/ or as
Addison's drunkenly inspired, mawkish, moral papers.

A YOUNGER SON. ST

On returning to England, our circumnavigating com-
mander communicated with my father ; who, nothing
softened by time, therefore harder than stone or iron, re-
issued his high and abhorred behest that I should be re-
drafted into another ship, fitting out for the East Indies.

We were soon ready for sea. Who can paint in words
what I felt. Imagine me torn from my native country,
destined to cross the wide ocean to a wild region, cut oil
from every tie, or possibility of communication, transported
like a felon as it were for life, for, at that period, few ships
returned under seven or more years. I was torn away, not
seeing my mother, or brother, or sisters, or one familiar
face ; no voice to speak a word of comfort, or to inspire
me with the smallest hope that any thing human took an
interest in me. Had a servant of our house, nay, had the
old mastiff, the companion of my childhood, come to me
for one hour, I could have hugged him for joy, and my
breast would have been softened to parental love instead of
hardening indifference. From that period, my affections,
imperceptibly, were alienated from my family and kindred,
and sought the love of strangers in the wide wrorld.
Again, to be separated from my messmates, whom I had
learnt to love - — these are things which some may feel, but
none can delineate. The invisible spirit which bore me
up, under such a wreight of sorrows, is still a mystery,
even now that my passions are subdued by reason, time,
or exhaustion. The intense fire which burned in my
brain is extinguished, leaving no trace but the deep lines
prematurely stamped on my brow. Yet even now the
mere memory of what I suffered rekindles the flame, and
I burn with indignation.

I could no longer conceal from myself the painful con-
viction that I was an utter outcast ; that my parent had
thrust me from his threshold, in the hope that I should
not again cross it. My mother's intercessions (if indeed
she made any) were unavailing : I was left to shift for
myself. The only indication of my» father's considering
he had still a duty to perform towards me, was in an
annual allowance, to which either his conscience or his
pride impelled him. Perhaps, having done this, he said,
d 3

38 ADVENTURES OF

with other good and prudent men, — " I have provided
for my son. If he distinguishes himself, and returns, as
a man, high in rank and honour, I can say, — he is my
son, and I made him what he is ! His daring and fear-
less character may succeed in the navy." He left me to
my fate, with as little remorse as he would have ordered a
litter of hlind puppies to be drowned.

Forced from England in this friendless state, I was sick
and sad ; every thing in prospect being gloomy, even in
imagination. Notwithstanding my extreme youth, my
buoyant spirit, my naturally sanguine disposition, I could
see no bright spot to lure me on to the smallest hope of
brighter days.

We had been at sea two or three days, when the cap-
tain, who was angry with one of the lieutenants, turned
round to me, being in the same watch, and said, <s You
had better take care of yourself here ; and remember, I

have heard from Captain A of the atrocity you were

guilty of in his ship/' I replied, ee I was guilty of
none."

(C What ! " he continued, for he wanted to expend the
remnant of his passion on some one more helpless than a
commissioned officer, <c What, sir ! do you think stabbing
people is nothing ? I will convince you to the contrary ;
and the very first complaint I hear of you, I '11 turn you
out of the ship." This threat of vengeance, as to get on
shore was the height of my most ardent longings, made
me smile. He perhaps considered it contempt, and turned
away with anger.

But I soon found out he was not a bad man — merely
a weak and choleric one. He had been many years on
half-pay, and, brought up in the country, he had imbibed
a farmer's taste for dirt and dung, which his naval pro-
fession had interrupted, but not erased. During the long
interval which had elapsed from his promotion to the com-
mand of a ship, he resumed the natural bent of his inclin-
ations, by setting to, in right good earnest, as a cultivator
of his paternal soil ; and felt more pride in viewing his
fat hogs and sheep, and ploughing ground for his Swedish
turnips, than ploughing the Indian sea in a dashing frigate.

A YOUNGER SON. 39

His appointment to her was an honour unsought ; for an
honourable member of his family, in the Admiralty, scan*,
dalised at his degenerate occupations, officiously thrust
greatness upon him, by ordering him on service.

He reluctantly left what he could not take with him, —
his house and lands ; he wept over his child and its
mother ; and his heart almost burst with emotion on con-
templating the glorious and magnificent mountain of the
richest compost he was compelled to leave behind. As
for the live stock, pigs, sheep, and poultry, it was too
painful to be separated from them, after having expended
more time, money, and patience on their nurture and edu-
cation, than most parents do on their children; so he
brought them on board with him, and the ship's resem-
blance to a farm -yard was to him a source of delight.
Most of his time was occupied with these his adopted
children ; and the first lieutenant was left in charge of
the ship, with only one little check to his pleasure, — that
of receiving a portion of the ill-humour, which vented it-
self on the quarter-deck, in abuse of the officers, whenever
our farmer- captain was irritated by some mishap to his
live stock, such as must arise in blowing weather, from
sickness, death, and broken limbs. On the whole, we, the
midshipmen, used to annoy him more than he annoyed
us. One of our tricks, I remember, was, to run a fine
needle into the brain of a fowl or two every night, when,
their bodies being ordered to be thrown overboard, on the
supposition that they had died of disease, we used to be
on the look-out to save them, and a grill was our reward.
He was, in the usual sense of the phrase, a good sort of
man ; that is, neither good enough, nor bad enough for
any thing; and it was equally impossible to iove him^
respect him,, hate him, or despise him.

40 ADVENTURES OP

CHAPTER XI.

Rock'd in his cradle by the roaring wind,

The tempest-born in body and in mind,

His young eyes opening on the ocean foam,

Had from that moment deem'd the deep his home. Byron.

Having fully made up my mind to quit the navy, I paid
some attention to my duty. I began to study drawing
and navigation, read every thing I could lay my hand on,
and collected from the officers and sailors every inform-
ation regarding India and her countless islands. We
went in the old tract : touched at St. Helena, and the
Cape of Good Hope, and, without any thing remarkable
anchored in the harbour of Bombay.

The only circumstance connected with my after-history,
which I have occasion to relate here, is, that I formed,
during my passage, a lasting friendship with the junior
lieutenant, Aston. I had been in his watch, and, through
the tedious nights, he had dived into my real character,
so as to discover that I was not what I seemed to be.
His kindness had drawn me out from the shell in which I
shrunk, when strangers, who appeared as enemies to me,
drew near. He awakened those feelings which had be-
come torpid, and called others forth that I had never felt.
He became my champion with those above me.

One circumstance had, he told me, often impressed him
with admiration, considering my youth. On our passage,
a second lieutenant, a keen, sharp, cunning, and villanous
Scotchman, whose sole delight was in torturing those he
commanded, when questioning me one day on a point of
duty, said : ec When you address me, sir, tak off your
hat!"

I replied, " I have saluted you as I do the captain, in
putting my hand to my hat."

He then came up to me, with — " Tak your hat off,
sir, whilst you address your superior ! "

A YOUNGER SON. 41

iC 1 have none."

<: What, sir, am I not your superior officer ? "

e* Yes, sir, — you are that."

<e Well, then, why don't you tak your hat off?"

ee I never do, sir."

" Off wi' your hat, sir ! " exalting his voice.

" No, I will not."

"What! will net?"

€i No, — to no one hut God \" — and then recollecting
I had done so to the king, I added, — ic and the king ! "

This parasite considered (at least one would think so,
by the use he made of it) that the only utility of a hat was
to be pointed, as an index of his base grovelling nature, to
the ground, not as a covering for the head. Though he
had bowed and fawned himself into the good graces of the
captain, his complaint could not be comprehended, when
he accused me of mutinous disobedience of orders. His
rage, in this instance, being rendered impotent, he re-
venged himself by heaping on me a greater portion of
petty spites, which I treasured in my memory, to be
summed up and paid. I did so, and with interest.

Another occurrence, admired by Aston, happened while
coasting between Madras and Bombay on the pirate coast
of Goa. A suspicious-looking vessel, having tried all
day to avoid us, got becalmed, and three boats were
ordered to board her. I was sent in the one commanded
by the Scotch lieutenant. She was the fastest pulling
boat, and the best manned and armed. Aston was in
the next best boat, and kept in our wake. The supposed
pirate craft keeping sweeping towards the land; and,
as it appeared, from the ship, we could not come up to her
till she run on shore, and a light breeze springing up,
besides the general orders of the navy in India to destroy,
but not to board the Malay pirates, the frigate fired a gun
and hoisted the recal-pennant. We were then within two
gun-shots of the craft ; she had got inside the reefs, and
the armed natives were crowding down to the beach. On
the signal-gun's being heard by our boat, the lieu tenant de-
clared we must return, and ordered the men to lie on their
oars till Aston 's cutter came alongside, whom he hailed, and

4*2 ADVENTURES OP

said : cc Aston, you see the recai-signal — we maun return
to the ship."

Aston answered, ce What signal ! — I don't see it."

" If you look, you will/' said the lieutenant.

<c I don't intend to look/' was the next reply. " We
were ordered to see what craft that is ; and I shall do so.
Give way, my lads ! "

I requested Aston to lay on his oars a moment, and
then, turning to the Scotchman, I asked, respectfully, if
he were going on, as I was steering the barge. He said
" No ! " and ordered me to return to the ship. On this I
let go the tiller and jumped overboard, and, calling to
Aston to pick me up, swam to his boat. The lieutenant,
with the snarl of a hyena, said., " I shall report your con-
duct, sir ! "

Aston ordered his men to pull in shore ! and in ten
minutes we were on board the Malay. I was in the bow
of the boat, on fire to realise my ardent love of fighting ;
and, the instant our boat touched the bow of the Malay, I
swung myself on board, by seizing a rope with one hand,
when, before my foot was on the deck, I cut a fellow across
the head ; and then, followed by two or three sailors, we
cut and slashed away without mercy. The Malays jumped
overboard. I was so heated as not to observe whether
they resisted or not ; but, excited by my own violence,
and furious at any of them escaping, I thought of our fire-
arms, seized a musket, and was about to fire at a fellow in
the water, when Aston laid hold of me, and exclaimed,
" Don't you hear ? I have been roaring to you till I 'm
hoarse. Why, what are you at ? Are you mad — your
example has made all my men so. Put down the musket.
You have no right to touch these people."

I inquired, in surprise, if she was not a Malay. Ci How
can I tell," he replied, " what she is ? You should have
waited for my orders. Perhaps she is a harmless country
vessel."

I then began to imagine I had been too precipitate, too
rash; and my ardour was cooled in thinking I might
have compromised Aston. It was therefore with inex-
pressible delight that I beheld the savages on the beach

A YOUNGER SON. 43

open a fire from matchlocks on us, and saw them launching
their canoes full of armed people. However, while they
were delayed in picking up their countrymen, we scuttled
the craft, leaped into our boats, and the frigate, having
stood in, picked us up. Two of the wounded Malays
Aston took with him.

After the skirmish I tried to appease Aston's anger by
my coolness and activity ; so that, having lectured me, he
represented my conduct in such favourable terms to the
first lieutenant, that the Scotchman's account obtained
nothing worse for me than a simple reprimand. He now
detested me ; but, under the protection of Aston's wing,
I was safe. Besides, his pusillanimity was a source of
ridicule ; and the sailors, who all look on courage as the
highest attribute, applauded me.

CHAPTER XII.

Long in misery
I wasted, ere in one extremest fit-
I plunged for life or death. Keats.

Before this, I had gained respect in the ship by a
reckless daring. My indifference and neglect of all the
ordinary duties were in some degree tolerated, owing to
my unwearied diligence and anxiety in every case of
difficulty, danger, or sudden squalls. In the Indian seas
a squall is not to be trifled with ; when the masts are
bending like fishing-rods, the light sails fluttering in
ribands, the sailors swinging to and fro on the bow, bent
yards, the ship thrown on her beam-ends, the wild roar of
the sea and wind, and no other light than the red and
rapid lightning. Then I used to rouse myself from dozing
on the carronade- slide, springing aloft ere my eyes were
half open, when the only reply to Aston's trumpet was my
voice. I felt at home amidst the conflict of the elements.

44 ADVENTURES OF

It was a kind of war ; and harmonised with my feelings.
The more furious the storm, the greater my delight. My
contempt of the danger insured my safety ; while the
solemn and methodical disciplinarians, who prided them-
selves on the exact performance of their separate duties at
their respective stations, beheld with astonishment the
youngster, whom they were always abusing for neglect of
duty, voluntarily thrusting himself into every arduous and
perilous undertaking, ere they could decide on the pos-
sibility or prudence of its being attempted. The sailors
liked me for this, and prognosticated I should yet turn out
a thorough sailor. Even the officers, who had hitherto
looked on me as a useless idler, viewed my conduct with
gaping wonder, and entertained better hopes of me.

But these hopes died away with the bustling scenes in
which they were begotten ; and, during the fine and calm
weather, I lost the reputation I had acquired in storms
and battles. Among my messmates I was decidedly a
favourite. What I principally prided myself in was pro-
tecting the weak from the strong. I permitted none to
tyrannise. I had grown prematurely very tall and strong ;
and was of so unyielding a disposition, that in my struggles
with those, who were not much more than my equals in
strength, though above me in years, I wore them out with
pertinacity. My rashness and impetuosity bore down all
before them. None liked to contend with me; for I
never acknowledged myself beaten, but renewed the quar-
rel, without respect to time or place. Yet what my
messmates chiefly lauded and respected, was the fearless
independence with which I treated those above me.

The utmost of their power had been wreaked against
me ; yet, had the rack been added, they could not hav^j
intimidated me. Indeed, from very wantonness, I went
beyond their inflictions. For instance, the common punish-
ment was sending us to the mast-head for four or five
hours. Immediately I was ordered thither, I used to lie
along the cross-trees, as if perfectly at my ease, and either
feign to sleep, or, if it was hot, really go to sleep. They
were alarmed at the chance of my falling from so hazard-
ous a perch; and to prevent, as it was thought, the

A Y0UXGER SOX. 45

possibility of my sleeping, the Scotchman one day, during
a heavy sea with little wind, ordered me, in his anger, to
go to the extreme end of the top-sail yard-arm, and
remain there for four hours. I murmured, hut, obliged
to comply, up I went ; and walking along the yard on the
dizzy height, got hold of the top-sail lift, laid myself
down between the yard and studding-sail-boom, and pre-
tended to sleep as usual. The lieutenant frequently
hailed me, bidding me to keep awake, or I should fall
overboard. This repeated caution suggested to me the
means of putting an end to this sort of annoyance, by
antedating his fears, and falling overboard; — not, how-
ever, with the idea of drowning, as few in the ship could
swim so well as myself. I had seen a man jump from
the lower yard in sport, and had determined to try the
experiment. Besides, the roll of the ship was in my
favour; so, watching my opportunity, when the officers
and crew were at their quarters at sunset, I took advantage
of a heavy roll of the ship, and dropped on the crest of a
monstrous wave. I sunk deep into its bosom, and the
agony of suppressed respiration, after the fall, was horrible.
Had I not taken the precaution to maintain my poise, by
keeping my hands over my head, preserving an erect
posture in my descent, and moving my limbs in the air, I
should inevitably have lost my life. As it was, I was
insensible to every thing but a swelling sensation in my
chest, to bursting; and the frightful conviction of going
downwards with the rapidity of a thunderbolt, notwith-
standing my convulsive struggles to rise, was torture such
as it is vain to describe. A deathlike torpidness came
over me ; then I heard a din of voices, and a noise on the
sea, and within it, like a hurricane ; my head and breast
seemed to be splitting. After which I thought I saw a
confused crowd of faces bent over me; and I felt a loath-
some sickness. A cold shivering shock my limbs, and I
gnashed my teeth, imagining myself still struggling as in
the last efforts at escape from drowning. This impression
must have continued for a long time. The first circum-
stance I can distinctly remember was Aston's voice, saying,
How are you now?" I tried to speak, but in vain; my

46 ADVENTURES OF

lips moved without a word. He told me, I was now safe
on board. I looked round ; but a sensation of water
rushing in my mouth, ears, and nostrils, still made me
think I was amidst the waves. For eight and forty hours
I suffered inexpressible pain ; a thousand times greater, in
my restoration to life, than before I lost my recollection.

But what signifies what I endured ? — I gained my
point. The Scotch lieutenant was severely reprimanded
for his unjustifiable conduct in sending me to so dangerous
a place for punishment. The captain's heart was moved
to order a fowl to be killed for soup ; and he sent me a
bottle of wine. I had the one grilled, and the other
mulled, holding an antipathy to every thing insipid. I
was never sent to the mast-head again ; nor could any one
suspect even me of such a mad freak as to run a hazard of
drowning, to rid myself of a trifling annoyance, which
others bore unrepiningly.

In taxing the Scotch lieutenant with pusillanimity, in
the adventure of the Malay craft off the pirate coast, it is
necessary to explain that an officer, ordered on such an
adventure, must be vested with discretionary power, im-
plied by the nature of the service, though not expressly
set down. The recal-signal was made under the impres-
sion that the Malay vessel would get on shore ; and that,
by the support of the natives, for such is their character,
she might make a desperate resistance. Commanding
officers are very properly instructed to be economical in
expending the material of the ship, — that is, the men, —
in Quixotic adventures ; not from womanish feelings of
humanity, but on more solid grounds, — the sterling value,
in pounds, shillings, and pence, of every able seaman,
taken to a foreign country and inured to its climate,
besides the difficulty of replacing him. Thus the captain,
seeing a probability of losing some of his crew, for the
trifling object of destroying a few savages, and no prospect
of prize-money, hoisted the recal-signal ; by doing which,
he washed his hands of the consequences, if they were
unsuccessful, leaving the officer commanding the boats to
act on his own responsibility. This, of course, is an
understood thing. If the ship, making such a signal.

A YOUNGER SON. 47

happens to be rather distant, and the boats are in the
vicinity of their object, they can better calculate on the
attempt ; then if the probability of success, backed by the
sailor's ardent love of fighting, and hopes of promotion,
outweighs the risk, they keep their backs to the signal,
and push on to the fight. But, on the other hand, if no
recal-signal is made, however hazardous the service, they
must attempt its accomplishment. Therefore the general
impression throughout the ship was against our Scotch
lieutenant.

CHAPTER XIII.

I, alas!
Have lived but on this earth a few sad years,
And so my lot was order'd, that a father
First turn'd the^moments of awakening life
To drops, each poisoning youth's sweet hope. Shelley.

Bfsides Aston, there were several of my messmates I
particularly liked. One of them, about my own age,
whose name was Walter, was my ordinary associate ; not
that there was much resemblance in our tastes and cha-
racters, but his father had treated him with even a worse
brutality than I had endured from mine. Perhaps indeed
he had, in conscientious minds, merited his father's hatred,
from having made his appearance on the stage of life in an
unlawful and unorthodox manner. Relations and guardians
had not been duly consulted ; the church had been in-
vaded in its rights, insulted in its discipline, its ministers
defrauded of their fees ; no merry peal of village bells,
or circle of feasting friends, had united their harmonious
voices in giving the unbidden stranger a welcome into the
world. Instead of these joyful omens, he and his mother
were smuggled into the obscure environs of a great city ;
and as much artifice and precaution used, and as many
bribes given, to conceal his birth, as if a murder had been
committed. This was the only mark of his father's care,

4S ADVENTURES OP

— at least he had never heard of any other. His mother was
one of the million of simple girls, who, seduced under a
promise of marriage, believe in the protestations and oaths
of lords ; — as if a lord could love any thing so dearly as his
own coronet ! or that he would hesitate to sacrifice a world of
ignoble inferiors, rather than be guilty, like base plebeians,
of keeping his vows, and acknowledging his offspring, with
a blot on his escutcheon !

Walter was educated at a charity school, the Blue- coat
School, a royal foundation for the maintenance and educa-
tion of poor and fatherless children ; and who so poor and
fatherless as this son of a man whose rental was forty
thousand pounds ? This institution, and many others,
are admirable nurseries for the bastards of aristocrats ; and
the commonalty must be proud of its high and distin-
guished privilege in expending hard-earned wealth for the
support and instruction of the offsets of our high-mettled
lords and masters. It would be sacrilege if one drop of
their noble blood should be spilt on the ground.

His mother exerted herself to the utmost, and, by some
means, placed him in the navy. Poor and unprotected,
save by her, he led but a sorry life, and underwent a series
of vexatious persecutions, which seemed perpetuated under
the Scotch lieutenant. These made him gloomy; he
shunned our mirth and sports ; and, while we were
carousing, he generally was reading. I felt much for
him ; and several times took on myself the punishment
for his neglect of duty. This won his heart.

To turn the recreant Scotchman into ridicule, I made a
caricature, representing his obedience to the recal-signal,
while the two other boats were hastening to the Malay.
Walter had a better talent for drawing, and I persuaded
him to execute an improved copy of it ; then watching
my opportunity, when all the officers were assembled at
mess, I dropped it down the hatchway on the table. There
was a burst of laughter, and it was some time before the
person, who figured as the principal character, discovered
it ; but when he did, his long colourless face turned to
a bright lemon-hue, and, festering with suppressed bile,
he had an attack of jaundice. He spared no pains in

A YOUNGER SON. 49

finding out the author of this satire. I should have
added, that we had annexed, by way of explanation, a
doggrel poem, which, perhaps from the vanity of author-
ship, or from the example of ancient bards and a modern
poet, I was particularly fond of singing, with little atten-
tion to time and place ; so that very soon it became as
common with the sailors, as " Cease, rude Boreas," i( Tom
Bowling," &c, and, to my critical taste, it was much
superior. I was not then aware that the celebrated author
of the latter of these national songs had obtained a
pension, or I certainly should have put in my claim. All
I got was abuse for the noise I made, together with in-
creased persecution from the hero I was so indefatigable
in immortalizing. His ingratitude, like Brutus's dagger,
was the unkindest cut of all.

Some time afterwards he discovered that the drawing
was by Walter. " I thought that fellow (meaning me)
had done it," said he, " and he is a cheald of the deil,
capable of any atrocity ; besides, he cares for no one, and
is protected in his insolence by Aston and the first lieute-
nant. But as for that pale-faced, sickly boy, Walter,
whom every body kicks about, by God, I'll make him
drown himself before he is a week older !"

Well, he strove to keep his word. By cunning, lying,
and treachery, he persecuted the captain and first lieutenant
with such unceasing complaints against him, that poor
Walter was punished and abused till he became desperate
from oppression ; and then, replying in hasty words and
anger, he was degraded from the situation of an officer,
turned before the mast, and stationed in the mizen-top.
In spite of orders to the contrary, I was always talking
to him, and cheering him. His gentle heart was bruised,
he sunk into gloom, and I feared would have verified the
lieutenant's prediction. He paid little attention to what
I said, till I confided to him my determination of leaving
the ship and navy the first port we entered, counselled him
to do the same, and pointed out the exquisite treat we
should have in buffeting his* enemy to death. The hope
of this wild justice did what no other hope could do — it
E

50 ADVENTURES OP

made him calm. He even feigned to do his duty with
alacrity.

His persecutor harassed him with unrelenting brutality.
He was compelled to do duty with the mizen-top boys ;
his former messmates were interdicted from speaking to
him; he was obliged to put on the dress of the sailors,
and mess with them ; and the Scotchman had exerted his
utmost influence to blast his name by the abhorrent in-
fliction of corporeal punishment ; but the captain, though
hitherto cajoled, would not consent.

CHAPTER XIV.

Young hearts which languished for some sunny isle,

Where summer years and summer women smile j

Men without country, who, too long estranged,

Had foundmo native home, or found it changed,

And, half-uncivilised, preferr'd thecave

Of some soft savage to the uncertain wave. Byron.

When on duty, particularly in the night watches, I used
to accompany him into the top, where I allayed his piteous
moanings at his fate by prospects of ample vengeance. I
pointed out to him the facility with which the thing was
to be achieved ; I told him we were now men ; that we
had the power of shaking off the fetters which bound us ;
that our ship was not the world, nor were we galley-slaves
chained to the oar for life ; that if the English conspired
against our liberty, they were little more than tyrants of
the sea-shore, and India, with her thousand kings, was
open to us ; that there was hope in our very despair of
the present ; that lower in the scale of misery we could
not sink, and that any change must, to us, be good.

" Yes ! let us go," said he, " where no Europeans have
yet been, and where they dare not follow ! Let us cast
off a country where we have no patrimony, no parents,
no ties. Let us change our country and caste, and find a
home amidst the children of Nature. I have read of such

A YOUNGER SON. 51

things ; I have heard they are true. And who so fit to
make the trial as oppressed outcasts like ourselves ? The
leprous and despised pariah, loathed by all, to my mind,
lives in bliss, compared to what I have endured and still
endure/ *

u As for leprosy/' answered I, et it's out of the question,
as I intend that my limbs shall do me good service. They
are the only friends I have, and the true philosophers in
the East set a juster value on the gifts of nature than the
English ; among whom unfinished abortions, with resem-
blance of form and intellect enough to class themselves
with human beings, are raised by lying, pimping, and
hypocrisy, to such a height, that we, who could crush
them like fleas between a thumb and finger, are compelled
to stand bare-headed before them ! Now, with the
natives here, there is no such infamous degradation.
Strength is power ; and the scales of justice are biassed
by the sword."

Walter would kindle up his spell-bound spirit, burst forth
in ardent and passionate words, transporting himself, in
imagination, to one of the countless isles of the Indian
archipelago, and exult in his bow and arrow, his fishing-
rod, and canoe. " No, no canoe ! " he then exclaimed ; " for
never will I look on salt-water — my blood would curdle
at it. No, I will find out some sheltered ravine, some
river's bank, shadowed by trees ; and there will I live in
brotherhood with the natives."

" By taking their sisters," I observed.
He went on : e ' 1 11 marry, and have children, and build
a hut."

t€ And be tattooed and naked ? " I asked.
" Yes," said he ; " no matter ; what they do, that
wiU I."

Thus we would wile away the time, building castles in
the air, almost possessing them, and forgetting all things
else, until our pastoral, innocent, romantic fabric was
suddenly annihilated by the accursed, croaking, querulous,
sycophantic, broad, vulgar accents of the Scotch lieutenant,
bawling out, " Haud your tongues, ye wearisome rascals
in the mizen-top there ; or I wull ha' ye all down to
e 2

52 ADVENTURES OF

the rope's end of the boatswain's mate, — I wull, ye raga-
muffins '!"

We then, such is the force of habit, slunk down the
rigging, crept into our hammocks, and awoke to a repetition
of our abject slavery during the day, and a continuation
of our romance at night ; till, I believe, we both looked
forward to the night-watches with equal anxiety. As to
Aston, he never ceased to treat Walter otherwise than as
a gentleman ; and the men, observing his conduct, with
the ready cunning of slaves, followed his example.

I have narrated events on board this frigate, as they
chanced to recur to my memory, not as they happened in
order of time. After staying a short time at Bombay,
we sailed to Madras, and then returned to the former
place with secret instructions from the admiral.

On our passage from Bombay to Madras, on a fine day,
as I was sleeping in one of the quarter-boats, there was
a wild halloo throughout the ship. The first burst of
Bligh's mutiny came across my mind. Such a commotion
1 never witnessed on board a man-of-war : the men came
rushing over each other on deck, up every hatchway;
discipline was at an end ; the lieutenant commanding the
deck stood astounded and aghast ; the captain and most of
the officers were struggling through the dense mass of
sailors, questioning and commanding ; but all controul
wTas lost, and they were huddled and wedged together
without distinction. I soon observed it was despair, and
not ferocity, that was painted on the rough and weather-
beaten brows of the men. At last the secret burst forth
in every voice at once, of " Fire ! fire ! Fire in the fore-

magazme

That awful sound effected what nothing else mortal
could have done ; it made the stout, the hardy, the valiant
sailor break through the well-organised . drilling of an
entire life ; and he was seized with an irresistible dread of
the only element he could shrink from contending with
—fire, and in the powder magazine! An instant, and
bodies would be mangled and mingled in the air, without
distinction of rank or station. Habit or instinct roused the
officers, who, at the first cry, seemed to participate in the one

A YOUNGER SOX. 53

unanimous feeling. None moved but with a flushed brow ;
and their eyes were glaringly bent on the fore-hatchway,
awaiting a fate they could not avoid. We were out of
sight of land ; not a sail in view, nor a speck on the hori-
zon; the only cloud was the black, dense smoke, which
burst from the hatchway ; and there being no wind, it
ascended in an unbroken mass aloft, we anticipating soon
to follow it.

A dead silence reigned throughout the gallant frigate ;
then a confused murmur ; and presently the men, without
combination, yet simultaneously, rushed aft to the quarter-
boats ; others crowded to the sides of the ship, straining
their eyes in the vain hope of espying some means of es-
cape ; some tremblingly crept up the rigging ; while a
small band of iron-nerved veterans alone stood undauntedly
— men grown grizzled from storms, battles, and hardships
not from years. During this movement I started at the
loud, clear, trumpet-like voice of Aston, commanding the
firemen to get their buckets, the marines to come aft with
their arms, and the officers to follow his example. With
that he drew a cutlass from the stand ; and now the first
lieutenant and other officers, as if awakened to their duty,
drove the men from the boats, and out of the chains.

The moment I heard Aston's voice I went up to him,
and said, (i I will go down to the magazine, if you will
send the gunners there and hand down water.'"

I rushed forward down the main-hatchway, hurried
along the abandoned lower deck, seized a rope, and de-
scended through the smoke directly into the magazine.
In the forepart, which was darker than the blackest night,
it was impossible to distinguish whence the fire came.
I groped about, and found my hands and head burning,
and a difficulty of respiration from the smoke. Then
I stumbled over a man, either dead or dead drunk, I
knew not which ; and tore down bundles of matches,
which were on fire. In doing this, the blue-lights, used
for signals, were ignited; upon which I heard some men,
who were coming down to assist me, cry out, " She is
going ! " and they hurried back to the deck, where there
e 3

54 ADVENTURES OF

arose another hopeless cry of "She is going!" and then
all was hushed.

One glance, as the blue-lights flamed, cleared up the
mystery. The gunner's mate lay prostrate at my feet,
with a broken pipe stuck in his mouth, and the only sign
he gave of life was puffing. The ready-primed matches
for the guns had caught fire from his carelessness. The
slow smouldering fire from hundreds of these had alone
caused the smoke, and the danger was in their proximity
to the powder. I grasped hold of the blue-lights, fire-
proof in my ardour, which the probability of saving the
ship gave me.

While endeavouring to hand them up, I called out for
more men. At this instant Aston was jumping down.
ff Don't come down," I said; f<rbut hand these damned
things up, and then — a dozen buckets of water — and all
is right." Aston called to one of the men who followed
him, bidding him go on deck, tell the captain there was
no danger, and that all we wanted was water.

The first bucket which was handed down Aston threw
over me, saying, " You are on fire ! " My hair and shirt
were burning. This and the smoke, I suppose, were the
cause of my falling down insensible. Aston took my place.
The fresh air soon restored me. In a few seconds the ma-
gazine was inundated by the buckets, and all was safe.

I was sent for on deck, and went there, my features
begrimed with wet powder — nothing on but my trowsers
— my hair and eyebrows burnt, my hands and face
scorched, and my whole appearance, I imagine, exhibiting
a lively picture of a fire -demon fresh from hell. All the
officers smiled ; but they seemed, at the same time, to
highly laud my presence of mind ; I say seemed , for it is
against the general custom of the navy to express more.
Thanking me would have been reprimanding themselves.
However, I was content ; the impression could not be
erased ; they could not call me a useless idler, though I
took care to be a complete idler for a long time after, on
the plea of my burning and bruising, and they said,
u Well ! poor fellow, he deserves a little indulgence ! "

A YOUNGER SON. 55

. CHAPTER XV.

Placed in the Arab's clime, he would have been

As bold a rover as the sands have seen ;

And braved their thirst with as enduring lip

As Ishmael wafted on his desert ship :

Placed upon Chili's shore, a proud casique ;

On Hellas mountains, a rebellious Greek. Byron.

On the ship's mooring in any harbour, I watched the first
opportunity of getting on shore ; and till the blue-peter
was hoisted, and the fore-top-saii loose, there was little
chance of seeing me on board. The instant we entered,
for the second time, the harbour of Bombay, I was, as
usual, under some plea or other, in a shore-boat ; and
presently had established my favourite head-quarters in
the town — to wit, in a tavern, where I plunged headlong
into extravagant pleasures. What time I could spare
from women and wine I devoted to galloping about the
country, rioting in the bazaars, and playing at the billiard-
table. As in the ship, so it was on shore, every commo-
tion and disturbance was generally traced to me. In
India, Europeans lord it over the conquered natives with a
high hand. Every outrage may be committed almost with
impunity, and their ready flexibility of temperament has
acquired a servile subordination. Resistance, or even
complaint, they scarcely urge ; and the greatest kindness
from Europeans, for long and faithful services, never ex-
ceeds what is shown to dogs : they are patted when their
masters are in good humour, and beaten when they are
vexed — at least it was so when I was there. As long as
you refrained from political interference, and presumed not
to question the omnipotency of the Holy of Holies, the
East India Company and their servants, as they are
pleased to designate the governor and all in office, you
could do no wrong. If you treated the decrees of these
merchant-sultans with due deference, and expressed your
servility by arrogance and cruelty to their slaves, the only
consideration was, that the heat of the climate made it a
e 4

56

ADVENTURES OP

porter's task, and you were considered by the old stagers
as a greenhorn, horsewhipping the wretehes during the
sultry hours of the day.

I kept up a communication with Walter by notes and
messages, and had arranged that he should not desert the
ship till she was on the point of sailing. I was then to
engage a canoe to lie near the ship at night, and he was
to drop himself over the bow-port, and swim to her. As
for the lieutenant, I was to deal with him ; for I had now
grown tall and strong, and there were few men with whom
I wouM have hesitated to cope.

At the tavern where I took up my abode, I commenced
an intimacy with a merchant. In youth we form friend-
ships in days, which, at a more advanced age, require
years. So with this man ; from a game or two at bil-
liards, eating together, and walking together, we had be-
come boon companions. Many of the naval officers used
to come in parties to the tavern to see me, when we often
sallied about the town, and played a thousand mad pranks.
My friend the stranger, as he was called, seemed to seek
the society of naval officers, and take great interest in the
different accounts of their cruises, the ships they belonged
to, their rate of sailing, and the peculiarities which dis-
tinguished their respective commanders. His conversation
was principally confined to questions ; and as people, for
the most part, prefer talking to listening, he was liked the
better. He frequently, in company with me, visited the
men-of-war in the harbour : the only one I objected to
introduce him to was my own frigate; but to make him
amends. I gave every information he wished regarding
her.

Though he then called himself De Witt, I shall speak
of him at once under his real name, De Ruyter. He
mentioned to me that he was waiting for a passage to
Batavia ; he seemed perfectly acquainted with India and
its seas. He spoke most of the European languages, nor
had he the slightest foreign accent in his pronunciation of
the English. In walking about the bazars, commonly at
night, he sometimes met me, and took me with him. He
was familiar with all the out-of-the-way corners of the

A YOUNGER SOX. V(

most irregular of towns, and entered into many dark
abodes without ceremony. He conversed, on these oc-
casions, with the natives in their varied tongues with equal
ease, whether in the guttural, brute-like grunting of the
Malay, the more humanized Hindostanee, or the softer
and harmonious Persian. What struck me most at the
time was the great deference these people paid him ;
even the proud, fat, swelling, and pompous Armenian
merchants, stopped their palanquins, and got out to con-
verse with him, apparently delighted at their meeting.
These and other circumstances made me wonder, but
nothing more ; at seventeen we do not expect every man
to be a rogue, as we do at thirty. There was a self-pos-
session and decision about De Ruyter's ordinary acts, with
a general information, that made me feel what, I suppose,
I should not have thanked any one for remarking ; as, at
that age, we are loth to allow any to be our superior.
Perhaps I might not have felt this so strongly, had he
not been as much my superior in physical as in mental
endowments. In stature he was majestic; the length and
fine proportion of his limbs, and the shortness and round-
ness of his body, gave to his appearance a lightness and
elasticity seldom seen but in the natives of the East. It
was only on close examination you discovered that, under
the slim form of the date tree, was disguised the solid
strength of the oak. His face wanted breadth to please
an artist's eye; but it added to the effect of his high,
clear, bold, un wrinkled forehead — as smooth, though not as
white, as sculptured marble. His hair was dark and
abundant, his features well defined. The greatest pe-
culiarity was his eye ; it was ever so varying that it was
impossible to distinguish its colour ; like the hue of the
cameleon, it had no fixed tint, but showed, as in a mirror,
the reflection of his mind. In a state of rest it was over-
cast with a hazy film, like a grey cloud ; but when he was
excited by the vehemence of his feelings, the mist evapo-
rated, and it gradually brightened till its rays, like the
sun, became so intense that your own were dazzled be-
holding it. His eyelashes were jet-black ; he had thick,
straight, and prominent eyebrows, with a habit of knitting

58 1DVENTURES OF

them together, contracted from exposure to the intense
heat of an eastern sun, leaving an infinity of minuter lines,
traced at the corners of the eyes, but unlike the deep fur-
rows of age or debauchery in northern climates. The
lines of his mouth were boldly and clearly cut ; it was
muscular, full of expression; and the upper lip, which was
prominent, had a convulsive action when he spoke, inde-
pendent of its companion ; his jaw was full, and gave him
the air of invincible determination. Though naturally
not of so dark a complexion as myself, those parts of his
person exposed were not merely sunburnt, but appeared
to be seared to the very bone. He was approaching his
thirtieth year.

I am thus minute in describing De Ruyter, to account
in part for the extraordinary influence he gained, on so
short an acquaintance, over my mind and imagination.
He became my model. The height of my ambition was
to imitate him, even in his defects. My emulation was
awakened. For the first time I was impressed with the
superiority of a human being. To keep on an equality
with him was unattainable. In every trifling action he
evinced a manner so off-hand, free, and noble, that it
looked as if it sprung new and fresh from his own in-
dividuality ; and every thing else shrunk into an apish
imitation.

The enervating influence of a long residence in a tro-
pical climate had not affected him ; his strength and
energies seemed insurmountable ; the maddening fever of
the jungles tainted not his blood ; the sun-stroke fell in-
nocuous on his bare head ; and he alone went the round
of his ordinary occupations, regardless of time or tempe-
rature. But then I observed he drank little, slept little,
and ate sparingly. While we were carousing, and keep-
ing midnight orgies, he often joined us, drank his coffee,
and smoked his hooka. He exceeded the youngest of us
in the enjoyment of the present hour ; even with the
sedative aid of the mocha berry, he could scarcely reduce
his high spirits to a level with ours, when fired by the
juice of the grape, or maddened by arrack-punch. With-
out effort he caught the tone of mind among his associates;

A YOUNGER SON. $9

thus marking the tolerations of his own, as he had the
power of bending the most stubborn and thoughtless to
his will, of directing them, and of moulding them into any
form which pleased his fancy. But he chose rather to
draw out ethers' characters, to view them in their natural
hues, and to relieve the tension of his own high-wrought
imagination by resuming the thoughts and feelings of boy-
hood. By putting himself on a par with us, he gained
that influence which Solomon, in all his wisdom and wise
sayings, could not have accomplished.

CHAPTER XVI.

Do ye forget the blow, the buffets vile?

Are ye not smitten by a youngling arm ? Keats,

Treated as an equal by a being of such superior intelli-
gence and years, I felt a pride, an importance, I had never
before known. By this conduct he gained my unlimited
confidence, and imperceptibly drew from me my most
secret thoughts. I told him I was resolute to leave a
profession, in which I failed to realise those ardent and
ambitious prospects of glory it had portrayed in my imagi-
nation. Instead of encouraging me in this, he ever urged
me to do nothing prematurely, or in passion. I spoke of
the neglect and contumely I had suffered ; of the despond-
ency of my views in life, in consequence of my hopeless
situation with my family ; and concluded with a firm
determination to shake off the fetters which galled my
spirit, and bound down my aspirations ; declaring that, if
I could do nothing better, I would go into the jungles,
and herd with wild buffaloes and tigers, where I should at
least be a free agent, however short my life, rather than
longer submit to the iron despotism which held my
very thoughts in bondage. C( Is it not written," I ex-
claimed vehemently, " in the code of our naval law, that

60 ADVENTURES OF

you shall not, in look or gesture, signify that you are dis-
satisfied with those who govern you by holding the lash of
correction over your head ? If gods were to rule us by
brutal intimidation, who would not rebel? And if we
must have a master, why not enter the service of demons
and devils, on fair terms and with fair words ?"

""Nay/' said De Ruyter, "you are running yourself
aground now. Restrain your passion ; view things in
their real colours, not as disfigured by the sickly yellow of
your jaundiced conceptions. We cannot all be masters ;
nor can the best commander content every one beneath
him. Your mind has received a warp from the neglect
and folly of weak, but not evil men. You, who have
endured so much from the narrow-minded views of others,
should learn to reason justly and tolerantly ; and dis-
tinguish between ignorance and malice in those who have
sinned against you. Now, the only case you have made
out of malice amounts to little ; and the object is too in-
significant to waste a thought upon ! — I mean the Scotch
lieutenant you told me about."

cc Little ! " replied I ; " do you call that little ? — the
utter ruin and degradation he has heaped on my friend
Walter ? And as I am the cause, so am I bound amply
to revenge his injuries. May every evil in life be concen-
trated exclusively on my head — - may the pariah scoff and
spit at me, and the wild dogs hunt me through the

jungles, if I forgive that malignant "

As his hated name was trembling on my lips, the
scoundrel himself, and alone, entered the billiard-room
where we were talking. He looked at my flushed and
heated brow, and hesitated what he should do — slink back,
or advance. He chose to advance, assuming his most ca-
joling look, with smirks and smiles, and that little enginery
by which he had wormed his way through the world,
wrecking the hopes of true and honest men. I should
mention that he had often visited this tavern whilst I was
there ; and that on shore he was affable as he was over-
bearing on board. As I was under his command, perhaps
he considered me still in his power ; so stepping towards
me, he said, " Well ! when are you going on board ?

A YOUNGER SON. 6l

The ship is ordered to sail to-morrow, and all the officers
are to be on board by daylight."

" Is it so ? " said I, in a slow and suppressed voice, to
hide the fierceness of my purpose, while every fibre of
my frame swelled in action, and my blood seemed ignited,
and then congealed to ice ; ie then the time is come to
settle my accounts ; and most providentially my principal
creditor is here."

" What do you mean ? " he asked.

" Once," I answered, u you told me never to stand in
your presence with my hat on. I now, for the last time,
obey you ! " and, with the word, I dashed my hat in his
face.

As he stood gazing in amaze, I stripped off the only
remaining badge of servitude upon me, and, trampling on
it, exclaimed, il Now, Mr. Lieutenant, I am free ! You
are no longer my superior officer ! If I must acknow-
ledge you my superior as a man, prove it with your
sword ! " Then placing myself between him and the door,
I added, ci Draw ! This gentleman and the billiard
marker shall see fair play."

He attempted to pass, muttering, " What do you mean?
— are you in your senses ? " Seizing him by the collar,
I swung him into the middle of the room, and said,
" There is no escape I Defend your life ! "

He then went towards De Ruyter, and appealed to him
for protection, swearing he was ignorant of what I meant,
or what I wanted. De Ruyter continued calmly smoking,
and answered, cc Why it seems pretty clear what he
wants. I have nothing to do with your quarrel. You
had better draw and fight it out ; he is but a boy, and you
should be a man by your beard."

The lieutenant, whose fears then took entire possession
of his mind, humbled himself to me ; he protested he had
never intended me any wrong ; that if I thought so, he
was sorry, and asked my pardon ; he entreated I would
put up my sword, and go on board with him, promising,
with an oath, that he would never take advantage of what
had passed. Disgusted at his meanness, I struck him
from me, and, spitting at him, vociferated, <( Remember

62 ADVENTURES

Walter ! cowardly, malignant ruffian ! What ! you white-
livered scoundrel ! can no words move you ? — then blows
shall ! " And I struck him with the hilt of my sword in
his mouth, and kicked him, and trampled on him. I tore
his coat off, I rent it to fragments, saying, " This is the
first time such a poltroon has disgraced this true colour ! "
His screams and protestations, while they increased my
contempt, added fuel to my anger, for I was furious that
such a pitiful wretch should have lorded it over me so
long. I roared out, e< For the wrongs you have done me,
I am satisfied. Yet nothing but your currish blood can
atone for your atrocities to Walter ! "

Having broken my own sword at the onset, I drew his
from beneath his prostrate carcass, and should inevitably
have despatched him on the spot, had not a stronger hand
griped hold of my arm. It was De Ruyter's ; and he
said in a low, quiet voice, ie Come, no killing. Here ! "
(giving me a broken billiard cue,) " a stick is a fitter
weapon to chastise a coward with. Don't rust good
steel."

It was useless to gainsay him, for he had taken the
sword out of my hand. I therefore belaboured the ras-
cal : his yells were dreadful ; he was wild with terror, and
looked like a maniac. I never ceased till I had broken
the butt-end of the cue over him, and till he was
motionless.

De Ruyter, though I was not aware of it at the time,
had stood sentinel at the door to bar intrusion. He now
left it, and a shoal of blacks and whites rushed in.

A YOUNGER SON. 63

CHAPTER XVII.

Bring forth the horse! — the horse was brought.

In truth he was a noDle steed,

A Tartar of the Ukrain breed,
Who look'd as though the speed of thought
Were in his limbs.

* * * *

And snorting with erected mane,
And struggling fiercely, but in vain,
In the full foam of wrath and dread,
To me the desert-born was led. Byron.

At the head of these intruders, to my astonishment, ap-
peared Walter. His wonder was as great at the scene
before him, — the man he most loathed lying, as dead, at
his feet. He gazed on him with a sort of triumph ; his
lips quivered, and his face became at first scarlet, and then
pallid. He raised liis eyes to mine, and, seeing me pant-
ing and speechless with rage, together with the broken
sword on the floor, the truth flashed on his mind. His
inquiring gaze then caught De Ruyter, who not only un-
derstood him, but seemed to know who he was, for he
asked him if his name was not Walter. Upon being
informed it was, — ec Well, then," said he, ee there lies
your enemy, whose breath, I think, your friend has
stopped. 1 wish he would keep some measure in his
passion."

" I hope," replied Walter, " he has not killed him."
De Ruyter, being in doubt, got up and felt the lieu-
tenant's pulse. He then .said, a No ; be is not quite dead.
Here ! — take him out."

The servants lifted him up ; he opened his eyes; the blood
was running out of his mouth ; and some of his teeth were
jammed in. He was a most pitiable object, and blubbered
like a boy. As soon as he regained his senses, he saw Walter,
which increased his panic ; and Walter, with a flushed
brow, restrained himself with difficulty ; for, on hearing
from De Ruyter that I had not broken the sword in his
body, but on it, he imagined he was more frightened than
hurt. But De Ruyter assured him to the contrary, and

64

ADVENTURES OF

observed, " Why, he is as difficult to be killed as the
tiger-cat. I have never seen a fellow endure such a
mauling in my life. Come, youngters, he has had enough ;
and too much, if you are got hold of to answer for it.
Your way of discharging yourself from the service may
not be considered as an unexceptionable precedent ; and,
therefore, before the alarm is given, and the town-gate
closed, by the affair being made known, had you not
better cut and run ? As to you, Walter, — have you fol-
lowed your friend's example in doffing the blue ? What
means this red sign ? Have you shifted your colours in
good earnest, or is it a mere frolic ? "

I had observed, with surprise, that Walter was in a
military uniform. "Thank God, and my mother!" he
exclaimed, (i I have a commission in the company's ser-
vice, and was discharged this morning from the ship. So
eager was I to pay that fellow the debt I owe him (fortu-
nately one of the officers going to England has made over
his traps to me), that, as the frigate sails to-morrow, I
came here to surprise you, and consult how we were to
get hold of the infernal villain. I heard you in wrath as
I entered the house, little imagining you had forestalled
me in my revenge ; but good fortune never comes single-
handed."

De Ruyter interrupted him with — cc Come, be off, like
the wind ! You'll have time to discuss these matters on
a fitter occasion. Time presses on. Go," (he con-
tinued, sinking his voice into a whisper), — " go to the
bungalo I told you of the other day, near the village of
Punee. You know the road. Walter or I will be with
you as soon as the frigate has sailed, and this affair has
blown over. Now, no more words. Off! I say.

My horse was brought. He was a vicious-looking
brute, with an ambiguity in his eye that gave him an un-
common sinister expression. He had been brought in
from the country, and having succeeded in throwing se-
veral of the naval officers, no one would mount him ; so
that, when first offered to me, he was enjoying a sort of
sinecure. Never having met with any one or any thing
as obstinate as mystlf. I liked him. I had a fellow-feeling

A YOUNGEK SON. 65

for his independent spirit, took him under my especial
protection, and found the excitement of contention a de-
light. A restive and violent horse, in the sweltering-
climate of the tropics, is considered any thing but the
means of recreation ; but I loved to stem the stream, and
never followed the footsteps of the prudent, who keep the
high-beaten track of the world. My horse and I became
a show-lion to the sober natives ; and an interest was
created to see which would conquer. Every day I was in
the habit of galloping about the narrow streets, to the
imminent peril of men, women, and brats. Countless
were the complaints made of stalls upset, bruises, and
fractures ; and I believe there was one unanimous wish
throughout the entire district, notwithstanding its hun-
dred conflicting castes, joined to a hearty curse, against
me. If curses could have unhorsed me, and directed the
brute's hoofs to my head, not one among them, heathen
or Christian would have stirred an inch to arrest the
visitation of so just a judgment. Thanks to a Turkish
bit and saddle, which I had substituted for the mockery
of English ones, I, drunk or sober, kept my seat, and
diminished, though I could not subdue, the spirit of the
horse, till we began to understand each other ; and, when
wearied of contention in private, jogged on together in
public, like decent married people. On this animal I
mounted, in a white jacket of De Ruyter's, speeding to-
wards the gate, under the excitation of drubbing the lieu-
tenant, not at all allayed by drinking two bottles of claret
with Walter. The guard of Sepoys was drawn up, be-
neath the arch of the town-gate, on some point of duty.
My antipathy to the hired badge of servitude extended to
all who wore it. In altitude and strength I thought my-
self augmented; and to show off my newly acquired
freedom, in which feeling my michievous horse, as if in-
stigated by the same impulse, most willingly coincided, I
dashed through the guard with the rapidity of thought,
and, with a wild triumphal hurrah, scampered on to the
plain of sand which lies immediately on the outside of
the town.

66 ADVENTURES OF

Here I gave vent to my joy, and played as many antics
as a madman broke loose from his chains. I spurred me
willing horse on to the centre of the sandy waste,, hallooing
and screaming myself hoarse with rapture. I drew the
sabre De Ruyter had given me^ and flourished it about,
regardless of my horse's head and ears. As I lost sight
of the town gate, I pulled in my foaming steed; then
looking around, and seeing nothing human, I dismounted,
when, patting the horse's reeking neck, I exclaimed,
<c Here we are, thou only honest creature, free at last !
The spell of my bondage is broken ! Who shall command
me now ? I will obey no one : I will have no other
guide than my instinct ; no one's will shall be mine ; I
am for my own free impulses ! Who dare attempt to re-
place the yoke around my neck ? Let them come here !
I'll not move from this spot, though pursued by all the
men in the fleet and garrison V*

CHAPTER XVIII.

The sun was sinking — still I lay
Chain'd to the still and stiffening steed,

I thought to mingle there our clay ;
And my dim eyes of death had need —
No hope arose of being freed. Byron,

Thus I continued my idle vaunting to the winds ; my
bosom swelled with the free beatings of my heart; to
roam at liberty, unchecked by churlish superiors, was
ecstasy. I had thrown off my cap, though the sky
looked like molten gold or brass ; and was proceeding
to tear off my clothes, though the white sand sparkled
fiercely, and pierced the soles of my feet like fire; so
abhorrent to me was every vestige or sign of slavery —
or, which was the same thing at that moment, of civi-
lisation. During the paroxysm, I should have unsad-
dled and unbridled my horse, to give him also freedom,

A YOtNGER SON. 67

but, at this period, I beheld some commotion at a dis-
tance.

My first impression of its being some one in pursuit
subsided, on discovering that I was between it and the
tower. I endeavoured to distinguish what it was ; but all
I could see was a silvery cloud of sand rising in a bright
circle, and a dark object, at intervals, discernible. I
mounted, and galloped towards it. As I advanced, I
saw it was a horse, running incessantly in a round. I
went on, and, amidst the clouds of sand, I saw that the
lunging and plunging of the horse were every instant more
violent. My own threw up his crest, replied to his loud
neighings, and pressed on ; but, on approaching the object
my astonishment was raised to the highest pitch at a voice
hailing me, and at beholding a man, in a cavalry uniform,
half covered with sand, while the sweat and blood were
trickling down from his close- cropped poll to his forehead
and face. I shouted out, " What is the matter ? " when
the horse came towards me. His large eye and expanded
nostrils were of deep crimson, and the blood from several
gashes on his head, neck, and flanks, mingled with the
white foam on his bright black skin. With erect mane
and tail, and open mouth, he came to within a few yards
of me. I pulled up, and drew my sabre. He then
wheeled round, and, making several circles within each
other in rapid motion, he flung out his hind legs at the
prostrate soldier, whose sword defended him with difficulty.
The horse endeavoured to avoid being cut by alertness
and rapidity. The saddle and housings, lying by the
man, in some measure protected him. On being foiled in
striking with his hind-feet, the horse turned round short
on his haunches, and, with startling ferocity, plunged in
head foremost, like a tiger, striking with his fore-feet
right out, and even trying to get hold of the man with his
teeth.

Here was a revolution, — the horse attempting to kill

his rider, and using his armed hoofs against his head !

In compliance with my spirit of freedom, I should have

aided the horse, or remained neuter ; but instinct im-

f 2

68 ADVENTURES OP

pelled me to side with the biped. Pushing in to the
rescue, I endeavoured to get between the two, but it was
no easy matter ; for the horse made no attack on me ; on
the contrary, he used every effort to avoid my interference.
I hallooed, and tried to drive him off. He retreated a
hundred yards, when as, once or twice, I was dismounting
to succour the apparently exhausted man, he returned to
the charge. However, from exertion and loss of blood,
he waxed weak and less wary ; so that, after many abortive
attempts, I succeeded in ham-stringing him. He now
gave one loud bellow, and strove, with a staggering gait,
to gallop off, frequently falling. I followed, and had se-
veral cuts at him, till, faint from loss of blood, he fell,
unable to rise.

I left him there, and went back to the man, who seemed
in little better condition than the horse. All I could dis-
tinguish, in answer to my speaking to him, was, " Water !

— water ! — water ! " — but I had none, nor was there
any near us. . The man's mouth was clotted, almost ce-
mented, with blood and sand ; I wiped it and his nostrils
with my jacket. Partly by signs, and partly by words,
he directed me to open the holsters on his saddle. I did
so, and found old Falstaff's substitute for a pistol, a bottle

— not, indeed, of sack, but of arrack. I gave him some,
and rubbed his face and head with the remainder. This
restored him, when I asked him to get up and ride my
horse, till we should arrive at some hut. He waved his
hand, and said,

ri No ! I have had enough of horses to-day."

4fc Well, will you walk ? "

c How can I ? " he replied ; eg my leg and my left arm
are cracked, or you would not have found me beaten by
that brute. If you had not come up, he would have
finished me. I was nearly done. I never heard of such a
thing before, though I have been a rough rider to the regi-
ment for sixteen years, and crossed all sorts and breeds of
cross-grained cattle. Never, till now, could one throw
me from his back, without rearing, on a clean field. Then
to come in upon me, like a wild beast, with hoof and

A YOUNGER SON. 69

tooth ! — he must be mad. I hope you have killed
him."

Dungaree was the nearest village. I mounted, rode
thither, pressed a palanquin into service, and returned to
the soldier. He was in great pain, but calmer. He told
me, the horse belonged to the colonel of the regiment.
He had been purchased at a great price, of an Arab ; was
quiet at first, and afterwards became so vicious and violent,
that none could mount him. " I," he continued, " under-
took to tame him or kill him. I have done my best. I
tried in vain to work down his mettle ; he was not to be
beaten. Deprived of his food, he was only the more
furious, and watched, with wonderful cunning, every oc-
casion of kicking and biting me. Once he got hold of
me by the back, and lifted me into his manger ; and if I
had not been tolerably strong, and assisted by others, he
would have killed me. Whenever I rode him, he used
every artifice to throw me ; which he had never been able
to achieve till to-day, when, by violent lungings and
lashings-out, he worked the saddle down to his loins, and,
in that situation, set off at full speed, and succeeded in
shaking me off. As I was lying doubled up, he broke my
arm, and, I believe, my leg. Then, after going a short
distance, he stopped, and wheeled round to renew the
blow. I had, with great difficulty, drawn my sword ;
and till you, sir, came up, which was but a few minutes,
he was attacking me in the way you found him. Though
I had wounded him with my sabre in many places, the
devil only grew more savage. I was frightened more at
his looks than at any thing else ; and I do verily believe,
sir, he was the devil/ '

" Do you ?" said I, " then it is some consolation, my
man, to see he is dead."

With that I sent him into Bombay, directing the men
to the hospital, giving them money, and promising more,
provided they made haste.

70 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XIX.

Whether she was a " mother," I know not,
Or whether they were " maids " who called her mother,

But this is her seraglio's title, got

I know not how, but good as any other

So Cantemir can tell you, or De Tott :
Her office was to keep aloof or smother

All bad propensities in fifteen hundred

Young women, and correct them when they blundered. Byron.

At sunset I returned to the village, determined to con-
clude a busy day by a noisy night. This village is set
apart by the government to provide for the exclusive re-
sidence of a separate caste. Here was formed a little
Utopia.

I put my horse up, and made a round to examine the
motley group in the different mud-built and bamboo huts.
The well-greased and black beauties of Madagascar first
presented themselves. At the next hut there was but
a small assemblage. A ferret-eyed, amber-hued, thick-
set Japanese looked out from the door, shining like a sun-
flower.

The abode of an ancient friend of mine, who occasion-
ally sold liquor to her visiters, received me. She was the
female Schaich of the tribe. Her dwelling was pre-
eminent, being distinguished by a second story, with ve-
randahs. This was the chief resort of the Europeans, in
compliment to whom she had mounted a sort of English
head-dress above her mahogany visage. She united in her
person the characteristics of the buffalo of the jungles, — its
ball-proof hide of dingy hue, decorated with bristly strag-
gling hair, sunken eye, and horny face, — with the splay feet
and hump of the dromedary. She was a monstrous hag,
that looked coeval with Sin.

The inmates of her house were heard approaching. I
distinguished the little patterings of their baby feet, and
presently the jingling of their bangles and rings. Arms,
wrists, ancles, toes, and fingers, glittered with brass,
silver, and glass, making most harmonious music, as from

A YOUNGER SON 71

aloft they descended a faery. looking bamooo ladder, like
a continuous stream of ants down an old wall. With
flowing trowsers, and scanty cotton vest, each female
was starred on the forehead with yellow or red ochre.
There was every gradation of colour and caste, muddy,
olive, leaden, copper ; and all the family of browns, from
the dusky-red scaly cock-roach of India, till it became lost
in the shining jet-black beetle of my own country. There
were all ages, and every degree of stature : from nine to
(what the old hecate appeared to be) ninety ; and from
the height of my pipe-stick to that of the palm-tree.
There was the light and pliant-limbed Kubshee coupled
with the swollen and blubbered Hottentot, moving like a
porpoise ; the Hindoo girl, with eyes like the stag, and
form like the antelope ; the fair, oily, moon-faced, fleshy
Armenian, fashioned like a turtle ; and the soft and fond-
ling Parsee, like a turtle-dove. Among these were the
Cheechees, a race of the mingled blood of Europe and
India — a compound of fire and frost — with the tallowy
whiteness of the English joined to the dark hair of the
east; and, though wanting the roseate tints of their
western sires, yet were they amply compensated by the
bright and glowing brilliancy of their mothers' eyes, un-
alloyed by the dead and fish-like colour of the north.

On entering the hut I had ordered an ample supply of
the ingredients for composing what doctors designate by
the name of liquid fire, but which the unlearned call
punch. Of this I poured so much down my throat as
nearly to deprive me of my senses, and I made an effort
to ascend to the upper part of the hut.

As I staggered toward the ladder, the old Schaich stood
before me to prevent my going up, when I sent her reeling
into the room, snatched up a piece of blazing pine- wood,
and ascended into a sort of loft.. Half a score of the oc-
cupants of the house started up to mar my further progress.
This would have impelled me on, had I been sober ; but,
with the pertinacity of drunkenness, I was about to do
more, for I cried out, " Keep off! or I'll see if you
are true-bred salamanders, or not ! " and was applying the
fire to the cane-work of the hut.
f 4

72 ADVENTURES OF

My opponents fell back with a discordant croak, and I
rolled into an inner room, -wrenching away the matting
which enclosed it, when a rough voice bawled out, " Hold
fast there, you young dog !

" Holla, old Hoofs !" I exclaimed, recognising the
voice of my late captain, and saluting him with his nick-
name among us, from the preposterous dimensions of his
feet ; " Holla ! old clod-hopper ; you here, and getting
drunk ! "

cc Get out, sir ! What do you mean by this audacity ?
Why are you not aboard, sir? Don't you know the
orders ? "

Ci Get out ! No, I won't ; and I don't intend going on
board again. I am discharged, most potent Signor ! "

" What do you mean, you scoundrel ? "

" Mean ! why, that before we part, we'll have a glo-
rious bowl of punch together, in spite of your grave
looks."

Seeing I was not to be balked in my humour, he gave
way to me, and, indeed, not being a very austere cha-
racter, he entered into the frolic ; besides, though not
drunk, he was not sober.

We sat over our punch, while I sung, or rather roared?
the song of the '* Old Commodore," —

" The bullets and the gout
Have so knocked his hull about,
He '11 no longer be fit for sea.*'

Then in return for his kindness in playing the parson out
of soundings, I treated him with a sermon, expatiating on
his manifold sins and iniquities, especially in getting in-
toxicated. Yet, notwithstanding the orthodoxy of my
doctrine, and the courtesy with which maiden speeches
and sermons are attended to, the old commodore was as
impatient to be off, as j£ he had been seated on lunar
caustic.

He nevertheless plied me with grog, till the last glim-
merings of my reasoning faculties were flickering in the
socket. Some Nach girls dancing in the room, and shak-
ing their bangles, looked like imps; while the volcanic
fire within my body, together with the oven-like closeness

A YOUNGER SON. ? 3

of the room, impressed me with a notion that I was in the
infernal regions. The captain stole away during the time
I was dragging down a bamboo rafter, with which I de-
molished the cudgeree-pots, and all within its swing.
The hag grew furious at the destruction of her household
gods and goods, and called out for the Burkandazers (po-
lice-officers of the village). Thus backed, she made a
furious attack upon me, exclaiming, Ci You more like
tiger, not than man. You no go my house. I make
sepoys come kill you. I never see such obstroperousness
when I live."

CHAPTER XX.

The last of human sounds which rose,
As I was darted from my foes,
Was the wild shout of savage laughter,
Which on the wind came roaring after
A moment from the rabble rout ;
With sudden wrath I wrenched my head
And writhing half my form about,
Howi'd back my curse.

*****
Away ! — away ! — my breath was gone —
I saw net where he hurried on :
'Twas scarcely yet the break of day,
And on he foamed — away ! — away ! Byron.

The hubbub within soon brought up some sepoys from
without. On seeing a fellow's pike peering above the
ladder, my blood began to rise, and my passion to sober me.
Hecate an/1 her witches were hanging on me like a pack of
terriers on a badger. I shook off, with a sudden effort, the
lethargic effect of drink, as well as ftie old and young who
clung to me, as the tiger does his parasite providers, the
jackalls, when he himself is hunted. Regaining the bamboo,
I drove them down the ladder : in their confusion, their
weight, with the addition of the flabby govemante, broke
the ladder, when they fell, and formed a cone-like hill below,

74 ADVENTURES OP

of which she was the apex; she plumped down like a Dutch
dogger out of the slips, sepoy and all vanishing beneath her
ample beam. Great was the uproar which succeeded. A
dense crowd had collected outside, with a sprinkling of
peons, sepoys, and police.

I now thought it time to remove myself. One wick of
the shattered lamp was still burning; with that I lighted
some cotton dipped in oil, and fired the house in several
places. Its dry and combustible materials rapidly bright-
ened up into a fierce flame. A wild shout from without-
side proclaimed the event. I had no time to lose. Amidst
the burning and crackling, I precipitated myself from the
window, and luckily alighted on the sepoy halberdier. I
was not hurt, but he was. Springing up, I seized his pike,
which had fallen from his hand, used it as a quarter-staff,
and cleared my way, till I gained the shed in which my
horse was tethered. I clapped the bit in his mouth ; but in
the darkness and hurry not finding my saddle, I mounted
without it, and took the field.

Determined on seeing the fire, I turned round on the
sepoys and others, who were close at my heels ; and putting
my spear in the rest, like a knight of old, I dashed full tilt
down the narrow lane, broke through them, and spitted one
against a small mud temple, well nigh immolating him as
an offering to the God Bramah ; while my vicious and sa-
crilegious horse thrust his impious hoofs into the very pe-
netralia of the piscina, a little niche, with a pipkin-bellied
idol, and a cudgeree-pot of perfumed rice, which were-dashed
to atoms. They yelled curses at us, — iC Yaoar ! Dog !"
But, under the dark wing of night, we escaped the missiles
which were hurled after us, and we heeded not words. We
now sprang into the middle of the crowd gathered before
the conflagration, and created much havoc. I came upon
them in great wrath, for I had but a little time to stay. The
mob fled before me like wild ducks. As old Muckery was
busying herself, with a long bamboo, in fishing out her
traps, J applied the sharp end of my pike to her, and goaded
her into the embers. She grasped a number of flaming
bamboos, and, missing me, burnt the horse ; upon which he
rushed forward, kicking and rearing with ungovernable

A YOUNGER SON. 75

fury. I could neither stop nor check him. We cleared the
village.

Away we went as free and fast as the wind. My head
became dizzy ; and rushing though the fresh air, after a
heated room, made me death-like sick. With difficulty I
clung to my seat, unassisted by saddle. All around me was
darkness and gloom. I crossed a wide jeel, where my sa-
gacious Bucephalus plumped into a ford, and waded and
swam to the opposite bank. With my head laid down on
his neck, I held on by his long shaggy mane. As I knew
I was receding from the fort, I cared not whither he bore
me. Fain would I have pulled up, for I was overcome by
a drunken drowsiness ; but one of the reins had given way,
and my mettled courser speeded on, reeling, and floundering,
and blowing like a grampus, I know not how long, for I
was hardly sensible. He made towards a glimmering light :
it belonged to a chokey, and striking there against something,
the shock was like that of a ship against a rock. He gave
two or three heavy rolls and fell on me, as I had fallen on
the sepoy. I became insensible; and long I must have
continued so.

On opening my eyes, I gazed around with astonishment,
and felt as after a trance. A group of people, squatted on
their haunches, encircled me. A thin and wizard-visaged
old man, with the peeta of a Bramin, seemed mumbling
incantations; all I could distinguish was, — " Topee Sahib!1*

— <e Ram, ram, ram ! *' — and u Dum, dum, dum ! " A
better looking, and better garmented man, with a grizzly
beard, said nothing but — " IV Allah /"

I tried to sit up, and signed to give me water ; they
shook their heads. My mouth was glued, I could not speak,
and was faint with thirst. I found I was lying on a mat,
under the shade of a Bunyan's shop, with verandahs. He
came out on hearing I was alive, and spoke to me in English ;

— no music was ever so harmonious. He brought me a
cudgeree-pot of toddy, which revived me ; no drink was
ever so delicious. Close to me stood a bheestie, gazing and
gaping with wonder ; a bamboo was poised across his
shoulder, supporting two buckets of palmetta-leaf, full of
water. He had been entreated by my gestures to let me

76 ADVENTURES OP

have some, but he grinned refusal. I now grasped hold of
the rim of the bucket, and tilted it over my head. The
water smoked on my burning temples ; instantly I felt a
thrilling sensation of pleasure ; and I sat up.

Then I discovered I was at a village near the road to
Callian. It was long ere I could recollect the events of the
past day. My bones ached as if I had been beaten to a
mummy ; and my face, head, and hands were cut. ' The
horse was first recalled to my mind by a lock from his long
mane, which was entwined in my fingers, still clenched. I
went into the shop, and lying down again, fell into a pro-
found sleep. I awoke, when the sun was sinking in the west,
drenched with perspiration. After eating some fruit, I
went to a tank, bathed, and felt as man new made.

Ruminating on my situation, and remembering I was to
meet De Ruyter at the bungalo, I inquired for my horse.
They knew nothing of him. I had been carried by some
cooleys from the chokey, and laid in the bazaar. By the
advice of the shop-keepers, I hired a bufFalo-hackerie and
proceeded towards the rendezvous.

CHAPTER XXI.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes

By the deep sea, and music in its roar :

I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal

From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot well conceal. Byron.

An author, justly celebrated for his knowledge of human
nature, observes. <e Let a man be ever so honest, the account
of his own conduct will,, in spite of himself, be so very
favourable, that his vices will come purified through his lips;
for though the facts themselves may appear, yet so different
will be the motives, circumstances, and consequences, when

A YOUNGER SON. 77

a man tells his own story, and when his enemy tells it, that
we can scarce recognise the facts to be one and the same
tiling *"

In twenty hours I arrived at a small village, on the
frontiers of the Deccan ; and there, having discharged my
hackerie, I picked up a couple of cooleys, passed through
some paddy and Indian corn-fields, crossed a ford, and
reached De Ruyter's bungalo, which I knew by land-marks
he had given me, and by the compass. It was prettily
situated on a rising ground at the foot of a mountain, in a
retired nook, hid in a grove of cocoa-trees, which love a
light and shingly soil, and sheltered by hills to the north,
east, and west. There was a wild garden, overgrown
with guava, mango, and pomegranate trees, and sur-
rounded by a high and impervious fence of prickly pear.
The inside of the house was painted in blue and white
stripes to look like a tent, the roof of the centre room being
supported by upright bamboos, on which were suspended
arms, guns, and spears for the chase. Two sleeping
apartments adjoining to this were divided by split bamboos
and matting. It was furnished with a tent -table, beds,
and other conveniences ; a few books and drawing-mate-
rials ; with rough but spirited sketches of ships, and of
lion and tiger -hunts, hanging on the wall. A small open
space before the door, studded with banana and lemon-
trees, drooping with fruit, sloped down to a large tank,
used as a bath, encircled with rose, jessamine, and gera-
nium. An old peasant, in charge of the place, said, " You
see, master, it is ungregi, — English fashion." On the
east side of the bungalo, canopied by a magnificent sago-
palm, was a long, low shed, which served for kitchen ; and
under the same roof dwelt the peasant, with his wife and
family, and a yak, or little cow, which was squabbling
with the children about some fruit.

This yak was remarkably small and wiry haired. The
man told me she was good, strong to ride, and that his
malek (master) had brought her out from the sea.

" A sea-monster ! " I said with a laugh. ce Come, then,
we'll have a swim together ! " and was going to turn her
into the tank.

78 ADVENTURES OF

" No, no, she like go up mountain ; no like go down
water."

I inquired if he had seen his malek lately. a No/' he
replied ; " but he had sent, two days back, much things for
huzoor," another name for master.

ci Did he not write ? " Upon which he took a scanty
rag of turban from his pate, and extracted from its folds,
where it was carefully enveloped, a plaintain leaf, doubled
up and secured with a piece of coir twine. I cast off the
leaf, and found a note from De Ruyter.

" Why the devil," I asked, " did you not give me this
before?"

" You not tell me to."

ce No, for how could I know you had it ? "

" Yes, malek know every thing ; poor gaowala-man
know nothing at all."

This made me comprehend why no eatables had been
offered to me, while I was ravenous as a wolf in winter,
notwithstanding I had kept my jaws in perpetual motion
with all sorts of fruit. I therefore ordered tiffin, and
returned to the house to read the letter; by which I
learned that the frigate had sailed, after some little inquiry
for me at my usual quarters. This was a great relief, and
my heart leaped with joy.

De Ruyter concluded his letter by saying he had been
detained by Walter, who was placed under arrest while
the affair of the Scotch lieutenant was investigated ; and
notwithstanding every lie had been invented to implicate
Walter, De Ruyter's evidence acquitted him. The ship
was delayed one day, to inquire into the affair, and to
remove the Scotchman on board; for he was very ill,
spitting blood, with two of his ribs stove in; so that,
together with the dislocation of his jaw, and loss of ivory,
I considered my debt to him handsomely cancelled, and
sponged the rascal from my memory, I thought for ever.
Walter had offered him satisfaction, but he was surfeited
with what he had already received. I afterwards learned
that he never ventured on shore at Bombay, saying that
malaria, musquitoes, and scorpions made it worse than

A YOUNGER SON. 79

hell ; but what he dreaded more than the cobra-di-capelia
itself, was the sight of Walter there.

I sent a cooley to bring me a hooka, bathed in the tank,
and, with a book, the " Life of Paul Jones," lay under
the trees, eating my dessert after an abundant Indian
lunch. A lightness, elasticity, and exuberance of joy,
never felt before, thrilled through me. It was the first
day I could number of entire happiness ; nor did I then,
as in more mature years we do, dash the present hour with
thinking on the ensuing one. The only happy life ap-
peared to be a peasant's ; and his limited wants the cause
of his being happy. Forthwith I essayed it, threw my
torn and soiled garments from me, twisted a piece of
striped cotton, as cummerbund, round my waist, and put
a turban on my head. Thus, barefooted, with a cocoa-
knife in my hand, and well greased with cocoa-nut oil, I
sallied into the grove, and, with the peasant's family as-
cended the trees, learnt how to tap them, and how to
hang the toddy-pots. This and gardening -made my time
pass on so smoothly, that, on the third day, when I
received notice of De Ruyter's being on the road, I felt it
as an interruption on my quiet and my solitude.

However I mounted the yak, a bamboo in one hand
and my knife in the other, and went forth, preceded by
two coolies, to meet him. Suddenly turning a tope of
neem trees, he was before me, occupied in narrating a
history of lion-hunting to Walter ; and so complete was
my metamorphosis, that he was passing on without recog-
nition, until his quick eye rested on his own yak. I
hailed him with, C( Holloa ! De Ruyter, — what cheer,
ho ! " They pulled up in astonishment ; and, after sur-
veying me an instant, they set up such a wild roar of
laughter that I thought them out of their senses. De
Ruyter rolled off his horse, and held his sides, exclaiming,,
" By heaven, you'll kill me, you mad-cap ! "

Looking very serious, I observed, ce I am not aware of
any thing sufficiently ludicrous to excite your merriment.
I am rigged in the fashion of the country ; and it is best
adapted to the climate, — is it not ? If you like to have

80 ADVENTURES OF

some fresh toddy, here are these fellows with my cudgeree-
pots full of the freshest, and of my own tapping/'

We sat down on the bank, talked, and, when they were
weary of their mirth, I remounted my yak, preceding
them to the bungalo.

We passed two days of unalloyed happiness. W<
climbed the hills, we chased the jackalls, regardless oi
heat or toil ; we sang and danced, not as in the days ot
slavery from the excitement of drink, for we were drunk
with joy.

De ftuyter and I were both, from choice, of plain and
simple habits. He never committed any excesses ; and
those I was guilty of arose from my volcanic materials,
which were fired like powder, from any accidental spark,
though struck by an ass's hoof. In everything I under-
took, no matter how ridiculous, I must out-herod Herod,
brooking no compeer. My brow now burns with shame
in remembering how many follies (to give them the
mildest term) I then and afterwards committed. Severity
and constant thwarting had accumulated within me so
much of the subtle spirit of opposition and obstinacy,
that it has mingled itself with every action of my life ;
while my judgment and better feelings have in vain
struggled to stem the stream that bore me on. False
lights have distorted the fairest and brightest scenes of my
existence ; converting that which was really good and
beautiful to blackness, and leading me to act the characters
I most despised. Thus I have played the drunkard, the
glutton, the braggart, and the bully. My wrong view of
things must have been the effect of education and example ;
for by nature I was the reverse of all this, and when acting
on sudden impulses, I have seldom erred.

A YOUNGEH SON. 81

CHAPTER XXII.

The kings of Inde their jewel-sceptres veil,
And from their treasures scatter pearled hail ;
Great Bramah from his mystic heaven groans,
And all his priesthood moans.

He felt assured
Of happy times, when all he had endured
Would seem a feather to the mighty prize. Keats.

After the second day Walter was compelled to return to
his regiment. As he was delighted with his new profes-
sion, so was he determined to be exemplary in the fulfil-
ment of his duty. Though we had talked day and night
with little intermission, we could not afford time to say a
word either of the past, or of our plans for the future.
We therefore agreed to have a speedy meeting to discuss
these points. On the morning of his departure he said,
fC You are now a free agent and an idler. We are en-
camped on the artillery-ground. Come to my tent. What
I have, you may command. I wish to heaven you would
procure a commission in our regiment — you could
do so."

" No, no, Walter ; the badge of servitude, blue or red,
I have shaken off for ever. King nor Company shall bribe
me with their gold, their honours, or their frippery, to
give up my birthright of free agency. And for what ? —
bread ? — I can find its substitute on every bush."

u Ay," he replied ; u but you love glory, and cannot live
without broils and fighting."

" If so, I can find enough of it in the world, and choose
my own ground and cause ; not fight like a butcher's dog,
on compulsion, because I am fed on my master's offal,
and feed with sixpence a day. You, Walter, will be
slipped like a dog from his collar against these subdued
and trampled-on slaves. Your masters foment disunion
and enmity among them, and then despatch their myr-
midons to seize upon their wealth and country, to make
them helots, or exterminate them as rebels and traitors. ,

82 ADVENTURES OF

Is this glory ? Now, if I want fighting, I shall most as-
suredly change my colours, and battle against tyrants and
oppressors wherever they are to be found — and where are
they not ? "

To this he said, <c Do not let us disturb these few last
minutes at parting with discussion. Perhaps I think with
you — perhaps you know that such are my sentiments ;
but I am not made of the same tough stuff as you are.
Alas ! my poor mother has known nothing but sorrow and
disappointment ! Her existence has been cheerless. In
my helpless years no hand but hers caressed me — I knew
no resting-place but on her bosom — and when I could
distinguish one from another, I never left her dear pre-
sence. When I was ill she lulled me to sleep by singing
and by her harp, and sealed my eyelids with kisses and
tears. Once, in the wild spirit of healthy boyhood, I
asked her — Heaven knows how innocently ! — for my
father. She laid her head on the table, and the room
shook with her convulsive sobs."

Walter turned away his head, struggling in vain to
speak. At length, with an effort, he continued, " You
may think me a boy still to talk thus, for you do not know
the pure and intense love which two hearts united, and
indifferent to all others, can feel — a friendless mother and
her orphan child ! How can I, knowing that the dear
angel has stinted herself, perhaps of the necessaries of life,
in order to remove me from a situation in which she
thought I suffered — for I forbore to tell her so directly
— how can I, now that her exertions and prayers have
been heard, destroy her fondest hopes ? At least I am re-
moved to a comparative state of happiness, and after two
years, I shall be allowed leave of absence to go to England,
and then . — but tell me, can I — would you — deny such
a parent any thing ? "

I had followed his example in turning away my face,
for I could not reply. So it is in civilised life ! — we are
ashamed of our feelings when natural, and glory, if not in
atrocity, in assumed apathy.

He then added, " Come to me, and that speedily. We
will talk over your plans; and remember whatever you do,

A YOUNGER SON. $$

or I do, we are always brothers. Here, take this book —
it has almost unfitted me for my new profession — it is
written for you, and for men with souls like yours. I
must try to forget it, but who can estrange his mind from
truth?"

He wrung my hand, and was soon out of sight. When I
looked towards De Ruyter, who had been calmly smoking
his hooka under a tree, I perceived he was rubbing his eyes
with his rough and red hand. " That Walter," said he,
iC will make women of us all. Now, I love my mother
too — but cannot talk of her. And, like him, I had no
father — at least I never knew him !" He then, as was
his custom when moved, bent his head to the ground, and
smoked with redoubled violence. After a pause, he went
on with, " That is a good-hearted fellow, but he has sucked
too much of his mother's milk — it has almost made him
a girl. What book is that he has given you ?— his mo-
ther's Bible ? — or a drawling psalter ? — or a cookery
book ? — or an army list ? " He took it out of my hand.
" Ha ! " he cried out, " Volney's Ruins of Empires, and
Laws of Nature ! By the God of Nature, the fellow has
some soul ! Had I known this sooner, I would have
worked him to a better purpose ! But, after a moment's
reflection, he said, " No ! a crooked stick, though straight-
ened, is ever struggling to resume its natural bend. I
confide in men like yourself, men naturally upright and
resolved. They may be warped too by their humours, or
by force : but, in the end, they will resume their upright-
ness, or be broken. Come, * * * *, I must return to
town to-morrow; and in ten days I am going to sea.
What do you intend to do ? "

cc Why, I have not yet," I answered, iC given it a
thought. I like this sort of quiet life."

At this he smiled, and said, u Well, my dear fellow,
don't balk your wishes. The bungalo is yours, if you like
it. Let me see, — there are sixteen cocoa-nut trees, —
the devil's in it if they and the garden won't keep you and
your yak in your natural state ; for old Saboo there keeps
himself, and frow, and half a score of young ones, with
half their number. Think of their value : from their sap
g 2

84 ADVENTURES OF

you have toddy ; toddy, fermented, becomes arrack ; the
fruit, with rice, is an excellent curry ; and, compressed,
you have abundance of oil to brighten your skin, and
lighten your darkness ; then of every shell you can make
a cup ; the husks will furnish you with bedding, twine,
cordage, ropes, and cables ; and the tree itself, when old,
may be formed into a canoe. Some of these commodities
you can barter for rice and ghee/'

u So I will ; besides, I can live on fruit, and hunt, and
shoot."

cc Do so, my lad. Only, as the most exquisite luxuries
do pall, and become nauseous from possession, so may
these, all exquisite as they are. Remember I have a
lovely little craft, well armed, and formed for peace or war,
as occasions serves, merely lacking an enterprising officer ;
such a one as I once thought you would prove, — but I
was mistaken."

" Where, De Ruyter, is she ? You never told me of
this. Come, where is she ? "

" You forget your toddy, your cudgeree-pots, and pas-
toral life.,>

" Oh no, I don't ! But, let us just have a look at the
craft. How is she rigged ? Where does she He ? How
many tGns ? How many men ? What is she to be em-
ployed in ? "

" By no means. You appear so admirably adapted for
a baboo life, you had better go on with old Saboo. Per-
haps next year you may like to take a tour among the
islands, and pick up a few Persian and Hindoo girls, for
the propagation of peasantry ; — is that in your Law of
Nature ? "

Thus he went on, bantering and laughing, but would
give no reply to my questions regarding the vessel. As
he was in the habit of journeying in the night, as soon as
the great bear shone on the verge of the heavens, he shook
my hand, threw a bag of pagodas on the table, bade me
deny myself nothing money could procure, promised to
be with me in a few days, and returned to Bombay.

A YOUNGER SON. 85

CHAPTER XXIII.

I could not choose but gaze ; a fascination
Dwelt in that moon, and sky, and clouds, which drew
My fancy thither, and, in expectation
Of what I knew not, I remained. Shelley.

The night was such as is often seen in the East. Every
near object, fruit and flower, illumined by the bright,
deep, and liquid light of the moon and stars, was, in shape
and colour, as distinguishable and clear as by day. The
pale and softened tints, the bland and gentle air, fanning
the drooping trees, formed a delightful contrast to the
flaming and red-hot glare of the day, when the eyes are
dazzled, and we gasp, as if under suffocation, in the hot
atmosphere. I sat down on the green slope, listened to
the hooting of the owls, and watched the flitting of the
large vampire bats round the tank, until I fell asleep.
My dreams were of De Ruyter, of the Indian islands, of
Walter ; but at last I started up at the abhorred voice
of the Scotch lieutenant, saying, " How now, Sir ! —
asleep on your watch ! — gae to the mast-head and waken
yoursel ! " Looking up, I beheld not that snarling cur,
but honest old Saboo, who was waking me with this warn-
ing, " No good sleep in sun ; make sick ; house good
to sleep/' I was cold and cramped. The sun was up.
Ordering some toddy, I went down to the tank, plunged
in, and was myself again.

The quiet and happy time I passed here was uncon-
taminated by disgust. However, I had resumed a jacket
and trowsers, my skin not being musquito proof; and>
having inadvertently trampled on a nest of young centi-
pedes, I was glad to replace my shoes.

From my earliest remembrance, I was subject to occa-
sional melancholy ; but not of the gloomy kind ; rather
a pleasing and soothing sensation than otherwise. This
solitude was well adapted to awaken the shadowy phan-
toms that are created in the imagination. Mingled with
g 3

86

ADVENTURES OF

these, realities forced themselves upon me ; and at last f
began to ponder on my singular position. There was a
strangeness and mystery in the actions and pursuits of
De Ruyter, which I could not develope, and which fasci-
nated and spell-bound my spirit. The rapidity with which
he had gained an influence over me wTas marvellous. His
frankness, courage, and generosity — the nobleness of his
nature -*- his liberal and enlightened sentiments, so unlike
the merchants and money-traders I had seen, convinced
me he was none of them. After reflecting on his words,
and what I had witnessed of his conduct, I concluded he
was commander of a private ship of war. But then neither
the English nor the Americans had any in India; the
French indeed had something of the sort; but, if under
their flag, what did he in an English port, and apparently
on friendly terms there ? My next conclusion was that
he was an agent of some of the Rajahs, who still were
independent sovereigns, although the Company were draw-
ing their circles within circles around them, till they be-
came driven from their fastnesses to the plain, to fall on
any prey. These princes, whether at peace or war, were
known to have secreted agents in the presidencies, to trans-
mit to them early intelligence of the movements and policy
of the Company's residents. De Ruyter seemed admir-
ably fitted for this service ; though he could not, or did
not, care always to disguise his indignation at what he
thought the barbarous policy, intolerance, and arrogance
of the Anglo-Indian dictation in India. His brow used
to darken, his lip to quiver, and his eye to dilate, as he
narrated, with thundering voice, instances of its cruelty,
extortion, and presumption. Yet he liked England, and
individuals of that nation, though he preferred those of
America, his adopted country. He observed, ee It is
curious that all nations who are blessed with the greatest
portion of liberty at home, govern their colonies with the
most remorseless and unmeasured despotism/' Then he
would add, " Fortunately for mankind, it .is so ; it forms
the only hope of freedom's being ever universal. When
goaded past endurance, the most patient animal will turn,
armed with the invincibility which despair gives ; — the

A YOUNGER SON. 87

wild cat will do so against the tiger, — I have seen him
do it."

This, and much more, which I now remembered of De
Ruyter, convinced me he was not what he seemed, but left
me still in doubt as to what he really was. If my surmises
were well grounded, I felt I should like him the better ;
and I entertained not the slightest hesitation in placing
myself under his pilotage, from every thing I had seen of
him. He was after my own heart.

He sent me frequent notes and messages ; and as his
departure was protracted, I could no longer refuse Walter's
pressing invitation ; so that one evening I mounted a horse
he had provided for me, and on the following night I was
canopied under his comfortable tent. He took a boyish
delight in pointing out and particularising all his comforts
and advantages, contrasting them with his early privations
and sufferings. As not a particle of envy was in my dis-
position, I participated in his feelings. He had already
become a favourite with the officers ; and having told them
part of my story, we were hale-fellows the first night I
passed in the camp. Escorted by a party of them, I
returned in a palanquin to my old quarters in Bombay.

My time passed agreeably, either in the camp, or at the
bungalo, where I made parties, or at the tavern in Bom-
bay ; De Ruyter joining us when not employed about his
affairs, — or business, as he called it.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Man, who man would be,
Must rule the empire of himself; in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, being himself alone. Shelley.

De Ruyter now took me on board of an Arab grab brig, re-
markable for its lean, wedge-like, and elongated bow. She
c 4

88 ADVENTURES OP

was rigged as an hermaphrodite ; and, as is the custom
with the Arabs, she had disproportionate square-yards.
Her crew were partly Arabs ; and the remainder, by their
colour and dress, showed they were of various castes. She
was unloading a cargo of cotton, and spices, purchased, I
was told, by the Company. De Ruyter very seldom went
on board of her ; but her captain, called the Rais, was daily
with him. They generally met on board a small and very
singular craft, called a dow. She was chiefly manned with
Arabs : but to my surprise the sprinkling among them was
of European seamen, Danes and Swedes, with two or three
Americans. These were secreted on board, for what pur-
pose I did not then know ; but I was especially cautioned
not to mention the circumstance on shore. This dow had
a large mast forward, and giggermast aft. She was the
clumsiest and most unsightly craft I had ever seen in
India. Her head and stern, raised and raking, were of
light bamboo work. She seemed crank, and to have little
hold of the water. On De Ruyter's asking me if I should
like to have the command of her, I answered, (e Yes ;
when I cannot get a catamaran, or masuli boat, I may
possibly hazard my carcass on board her/'

" I see you are particular," said he. c< Now, though 1
have my choice, I shall, from preference, go to sea in her.
Perhaps you, being fastidious, may prefer the grab ? "

« Why," I replied, " knock the shark's head off her
and ship a bowsprit in its place, with a lick of tar and
paint, and I should be well content to take a cruise in her.
Besides, I like the look of those Arabs, and of those savage,
lean, wild-eyed fellows, with their red caps, jackets and
turbans. I never saw cleaner or lighter-made fellows to
fly aloft in a squall, or board an enemy in battle."

" Yes, they are our best men, and come from Dacca ;
and they'll fight a bit, I can tell you."

" But then I should like to have something to fight
with."

" O, she has guns ! "

" I hate those pea-shooter-looking things on her gunnels.
A few twelves, or short twenty-fours, would not be too
much for her. She has a beautiful water line, and a run

A YOUNGER SON. SQ

aft like a schooner. Her bow is of the leanest ; and her
beam being so far aft, I doubt she pitches damnably in a
swell. Nevertheless there is a varment and knowing look
about her which I like/'

' ' Well, will you run her down the coast to Goa ? I '11
follow in the old dow. When the sun sets, get on board,
and weigh with the land wind. You see she is already
removed into the roadstead, and ready for sea. At daylight
I shall get under weigh. I have told the Rais that you
are going in the grab, and to obey you. I '11 give you a
few notes , in case of an accident separating us, though it
is not probable. Come along. Remember you are a pas-
senger to Goa. Not a word more to Walter ! When we
get into blue water, you shall know every thing. Are you
satisfied ?"

'c I am. I should not have held on so long with-
out questioning, had I not entire confidence in you, De
Ruyter. Where you go, never doubt but I '11 follow. I
have not a very squeamish stomach, and am no change-
ling/'

" Very well ! But have one thing uppermost in your
mind : before you can govern others, you must be perfect
master of yourself. That you may be so, do not, like a
girl, let words or gestures betray your purpose. A loose
word spoken in passion, or an embarrassed look, may mar
your designs, however ably planned. Above all things do
not indulge in wine ; for that, they say, opens the heart ;
and who but a fool would betray himself, perhaps to those
on the watch to entrap him ? "

iC You know I drink but little."

" True ; but now I wish you not to drink at all."

On my staring at him, he smiled and said, u That is,
for the present. If you do indulge, do so with tried friends
only. But you had better not drink ; for I know you can
more easily abstain altogether, than follow a middle course.
Is it not so?"

" I believe you are in the right."

After our return on shore, stopping near the tavern, he
said, " Give your orders to these boatmen as to the things
you want. You'll find almost every thing you can have

90 ADVENTURES OF

occasion for on board ; and that is lucky for you, as you
are a most heedless person."

Just before the sun had sunk to rest, I received De
Ruyter's parting instructions, shook hands with him, and
leapt into the boajt. The Rais, who spoke English very
well, received me on board, and showed me into the cabin.
I gave him a letter from De Ruy ter ■ he put it to his fore-
head, read it, and asked me at what time I wished to get
under weigh, as he was referred to me. I answered, at
twelve ; such were my instructions. I bade him hoist the
boats in, stow them, and have every thing prepared for sea.

While he executed these orders, I looked over De Ruy-
ter's pencilled memorandums. Though. I certainly under-
stood I was to have the command of the vessel, if I wished
it, I could not account for the strange way in which it was
enforced upon me. The Rais would do nothing without my
orders. " Well/' thought I, " with all my heart ! To-
morrow we shall meet the dow, and then De Ruyter will
enlighten me."

Mine had been such a dog's life in those situations in
which my guardians had placed me, that I could not possibly,
seeking my fortunes blindfold, stumble on any thing more
miserable ; so that not only without hesitation, but with a
joyful alacrity, my mind was instantly made up to execute
any thing De Ruyter, the only person who seemed inter-
ested in my fate, thought fit to employ me in. I took a
hasty turn or two on the deck, with a firm step and proud
glance, which command gives ; and spoke with kindness
to the Serang and others, as a man does in the fresh bloom
of office.

Though the vessel was in a disorderly trade-like trim,
she was not deficient in the essentials of defensive, if not
offensive warfare. Her masts and sails, with the coir
running rigging, had a slovenly look to a man-of-war-
man's eye ; and, from the want of tar and paint, she had a
bronze hue. Notwithstanding, on a close inspection, you could
see she had been fitted up with great care in all essential
points, and with many of the modern European improve-
ments. In measurement she was about three hundred tons,
but could stow little more than half. She had a deep waist

A YOUNGER SON. 9*

pierced with port-holes for guns ; but battened in, except
the two forward and four after ones, which had six long
nine-pounders. Her gunnels were armed with swivels.
Her forecastle was raised ; and abaft she had a low poop,
or half-deck, under which was the principal cabin. As
the last stroke on the gong sounded eight o'clock, the
sailors' supper time, I instinctively returned to this after-
cabin ; the grave, which time had dug in my stomach
since mid-day, yawning to be filled up. Swarms of men,
with the same intention, hastened from below, squatted on
their heels in small circles, divided by caste, and turned to
with their messala (messes), of rice, ghee, dried bumbalo,
curry, fresh fruit, and dried chillies.

Having filled up the aforesaid vacuum, I lay down on
the couch, smoked De Ruyter's hooka, and took an inven-
tory of the cabin. It was low, but roomy ; and well
lighted and cooled from the stern ports. There were too
sleeping berths on the opposite sides; and in the spaces
between them and the upper deck were two stars of pistols ;
that is, fourteen or sixteen pistols in each, with their
muzzles together, their butts forming the radii. The fore
bulk-head was closely ribbed with bamboo spars ; the outer
portion was ranged with musquets; and there was a gar-
nish of bayonets, and jagged Malayan creeses, arrayed in
most fanciful forms. This was the " fitting for war," as
De Ruyter called it. Then the after part was certainly
dedicated to peace, its shelves being crammed with books,
writing materials, and nautical instruments ; and the ceil-
ing, low as it was, had a number of rolled charts suspended
between the beams ; while in the middle of the centre-
beam swung the transversed compass. In other nooks and
corners were telescopes ; and, though less picturesque, yet
equally indispensable, such articles as I had called in requi-
sition for my supper.

Not being forbidden to sleep, nor having the fear of
punishment over my head for neglect of duty, I was wake-
ful and alert. My mind was occupied by the responsi-
bility with which my friend had intrusted me. I* walked
the deck, gazing at the dog- vane, to see it wooed by the
land wind ; but, as De Ruyter said, it was near twelve

92 ADVENTURES O*

before this took place. Then I ordered the Rais to get
under weigh, and, if possible, without noise. The first,
he said, was easy work; but the last impossible. We
weighed our anchor, and went to sea.

CHAPTER XXV.

With thee, my bark, I '11 swiftly go]

Athwart the foaming brine ;
Nor care what land thou bear'st me t,

So not again to mine.

Welcome, welcome, ye dark blue waves !

And, when you fail my sight,
Welcome ye deserts and ye caves !

My native land, good night ! Byron.

All whose physical and mental powers, no matter of what
metal they are composed, are forced into premature
developement by artificial means, or by the communication
of cities, attain the rapid- and wire-drawn growth of plants
and herbs in the dense shelter of a forest. Early they put
forth their leaves and buds, but seldom if ever more; or
if they do produce fruit, it is unwholesome and nauseous.
When transplanted from their shelter in the open spaces of
the world, the first frost or storm destroys them. So it is
with animals : the power of the high-bred racer, forced by
exciting food and clothing, does indeed give an early pro-
mise of strength, but never realised. He is cut of? in the
dawn of his prime, with all the symptoms of age and decay.
There are in the north some few men, and women too,
who, without this care and culture, spring up into their full
growth with the marvellous rapidity of the east ; and the
germs of life and hardiness within them are not to be sub-
dued, perceptibly, by time or toil ; so that, at the age when
ordinary beings become extinguished, these iron ones yet
hold their ground, sturdy and upright. Such were the
patriarchs of the olden time ; and now that the world is
more ripe with war, disease and adventure, diminishing

A YOUNGER SON. Q3

their numbers, yet such beings are to be found, was outlive
all kin and kind, who cease to count time by years, but
refer to the page of history and past events, and wonder of
what malady a brother died at fourscore.

Though not one of these granite pillars, I gave token,
not artificially, of belonging to their hardy breed; for,
at this period of my life, I had attained the attributes of
perfect manhood. I was six feet in stature, robust, and
bony, almost to gauntness ; and, with the strength of ma-
turity, I had the flexibility of limb which youth alone can
give. Naturally of a dark hue, my complexion readily taking
a darker from the sun, I was now completely bronzed.
My hair was black, and my features perfectly Arab. At
seventeen I looked to be seven-and- twenty. Then, having
in extreme youth been left to jostle my way through the
crowd, I had made a proportionate advance in what is
called worldly knowledge, which experience alone, not
years, can teach.

In the way I have related the course of my first acquaint-
ance and subsequent friendship with De Ruyter, I am fearful
that some may be impressed with an erroneous idea that he
was selfishly working on the malleability of my youth. I
can speak now with proof of his having been assayed on the
touchstone of time, and found true gold. De Ruyter himself
was in reality a friendless wanderer ; a man self-exiled, from
out the pale of civilisation and its ties ; and with a highly
wrought imagination, and cultivated mind, it was natural
he should seek objects to lavish his affections on, and who
could sympathise with him. Such were not easy to be found
where he was, and in his unsettled way of life. With the
semibarbarians of the East it was out of the question ; and
the European- adventurers were scattered about, busy in the
accumulation of wealth, or exclusively engaged in their own
separate views of ambition. The few renegado sailors he
could pick up from time to time were either deserters, or
deserted for their worthlessness. A few associates he had
liked were removed by death, or, what is the same thing,
distance. He was not formed for an Asiatic : his free and
buoyant nature impelled him to seek companionship ; and
having perhaps no predilection at that period, as accident

94 adventub.es op

cast me in his way, his feelings were interested in my
behalf. He had perfectly seen through me during that
period, though short yet full of matter ; and nothing
doubted but that, with a little time and guidance, I should
become what he wished me to be. He perceived that,
added to the fresh and warm feelings of youth, I pos-
sessed honesty, sincerity, and courage, not yet soiled and
way-worn by journeying through the sloughs of the
world, which few can pass without defilement. The step
he took, therefore, was not so preposterous as superficial
lookers-on might conclude. From the hour in which I had
consummated my revenge on the lieutenant, in a manner
which cut off the possibility of my return to the navy, De
Ruyter, seeing I was utterly friendless, became my friend in
its true sense, and ever after treated me as such ; so that if
fathers followed his example, we should have less of that
eternal and mawkish cant about filial disobedience, dull as
it is false, spawned on society by dry and drawling priests,
and incubated by the barren sect of mouldy, soddened blues.
His disposition, or restlessness, caused his to be a life of
adventure, and consequently of peril. I was a scion of the
same stock; my inclinations homogenial; and whether I
had met with him or not, I should have run my destined
course, though not on the same ground.

As I am writing more for my own gratification, and to
beguile the now weary hours, than for strangers, they must
be content to give me cable and range enough, while nar-
rating this part of my history, which, however dry and
tedious to them, is to me the most interesting. And who
that lives, and has a heart not grown sabre-proof, does not
glow with pleasure at the remembrance of what he did and
felt from seventeen to twenty ? With some, both earlier
and later remembrances may be equally delightful. Not so
with me ; for at twenty-one I was like a young steer taken
from the pasture to the shambles ; or like the wild horse,
selected from the herd, and lazoed by the South American
gauchoes in the midst of my career. The fatal noose was
cast around my neck, my proud crest humbled to the dust,
the bloody bit thrust into my mouth, my shaggy mane
trimmed, my hitherto untrammelled back bent with a

A YOUNGER SON. 9^>

weight I could neither endure nor shake off, my light and
springy action changed into a painful amble, — in short, I
was married ; and married to — but I must not antedate
my European adventures. For the present I must en-
deavour to forget it, that I may relate my actions in India
with the open and fiery spirit which freedom gives ; not in
the subdued tone of a shackled, care-worn, and spirit-
broken married man of the civilised West.

We gently glided out of the port, with just enough of air,
as sailors express it, to lull the sails to sleep. At daylight,
the port and harbour still in sight on our lea-beam, we dis-
cerned the sluggardly old dow under weigh, creeping along
the land like a tortoise. At noon a breeze sprung up from
the S.W. ; and at sunset, relieved by distance from all ap-
prehension of our movements being watched by the port, I
bore up, ran some leagues in shore, shortened sail, and hove
to. As I had anticipated, with the earliest dawn, when
the grey mists evaporated and left a clear line of horizon,
it was first broken, as I swept it round with a telescope, by
the old dow, like a black spot on the light blue sea, on the
bow. I ordered the helmsman to bear up ; and with a
press of sail we came down on her at eight o'clock. I hailed
her, and De Ruyter came on board. We again hauled our
wind, and continued our course along the land.

De Ruyter then retired with me to breakfast in the cabin,
inquiring of me what I thought of the grab. " She seems
to move," I said,, u independently of the wind. We passed
a man-of-war brig yesterday, as if she were a rock."

ie Yes, in such a light air as this, nothing will come
near her. In a heavy head-sea, she does indeed pitch
heavily. But if not over-pressed, she is light, buoyant, and
holds a good wind. Therefore, don't press sail on her, or
she will be buried."

96

ADVENTURES OP

CHAPTER XXVI.

Half ignorant they turned an easy wheel.
That set sharp racks at work, to pinch and peel.

Why were they proud ? Because their marble founts
Gush'd with more pride than do a wretch's tears?

Why were they proud? Because fair orange mounts
Were of more soft ascent than, lazar stairs ?

Why were they proud ? Because red-lined accounts
Were richer than the songs of Grecian years ?

Why were they proud ? again we ask aloud,

Why in the name of Glory were they proud ? Keats.

De Ruyter, after some other nautical talk, veered round to
the point of the compass I desired, commencing with, —
".What I told you at Bombay was true ; — I was a mer-
chant there. Now, having concluded my mercantile task,
I am ready for freighting or fighting ; but I am generally
compelled to begin with the latter. I pursue no invariable
line of action ; both I and the grab are transmutable."

" How are we to shape our course now ? "

" Why, in this wide sea, and amidst the conflicting
broils and wars of European adventurers, and native princes,
and rajahs, — besotted barbarians, worrying and flying at
each other's throats in contention about the pasture, while
English wolves steal in and walk off with the cattle, — there
can be no lack of employment, though it requires consider-
ation to decide. First, we must run down the coast to Goa,
where, having settled some business, and laid up the dow,
we shall afterwards be together ; and then it will be time
enough to decide on our after-movements. How old are
you ? '

" I have turned seventeen.'*

" That's odd ! — I took you for twenty. Well, — no
matter your age. A green trunk often produces the ripest
and richest fruit. A little more experience, which you will
soon pick up in our bustling life, and a great deal more of
command over your passions, and you will lack little of the
essential qualifications to fit you for any thing on sea or on
shore. The choice is entirely yours. If you like land- work,

A YOUNGER SON. 97

I have some friends scattered about, who, for your own
sake, as well as mine, will be glad to employ you. If you
stay with me, I need not say that you are most welcome.
But mine is a rough life ; and if you are to judge of my
actions by the common canting sophistry of public opinion,
you may pronounce their legality as something more than
questionable, and had better not hazard your reputation."

cs Hang that ! " I replied ; f€ with your permission I
shall stay where I am. I told you before 1 wished to stay
with you, and I repeat it. I don't want to know your
plans till I have experience enough to aid you with my
counsel."

" Nc ; you are a man in intellect, and have more firmness
than most men I have had to deal with. For some things
I have done, those devouring locusts of Europe have de-
nounced me a buccanier. These sordid fellows, who would
squeeze their fathers' eyes out without compunction, if they
were nutmegs, will let no man warm his blood with spice,
or cool it with tea, unless they have their profit, or, as it is
called, their dustoory. They would monopolise every thing,
and wherever there is gain, let them but once hit on the
scent, they'll hunt it out through blood and mire, and
admit no sharers in the spoil. Now, I like spice and tea
too ; and their system of exclusive right not suiting with
my ideas of things, I began to open a trade for myself.
They denounced me, seized my vessel, and left me bank-
rupt. Well ! I did not rot in a jail, nor sit down in abject
despair, nor waste my breath in beggarly petitions. I am
not one of those spiritless cravens. I went forth again,
alone like the lion, no longer circumscribed within the
narrow limits of a paltry burgher, but determined on making
reprisals, and returning blow for blow, no matter whence it
came. In the interval, however, between my ruin and
return to the sea, I gratified my longing to see the interior
of India, and traversed the greatest part of it. I sojourned
some time with Tippoo Sahib. He alone had the ingredients
of greatness in his composition. I accompanied him to
some of his principal battles, — but you know his fate. I
-was, at that time, one of those visionary enthusiasts, im-
pelled, by an ardent love of liberty, to try to breast the stream

98 ADVENTURES OF

which heaves the weak onward unresistingly. Like a petty
mountain -torrent contending with a mighty river, I foamed
and struggled to maintain my purpose; but in vain, — I
was borne on like the rest, till, mingled with them, I became
lost in the wide ocean. Foolishly I thought that men might
be induced to lay aside their paltry interests for a season ,
and let their passions sleep, like scorpions in the winter, till
the sun of freedom dawned, and gave them leisure, un-
disturbed by foreign invasion, to resume their civil and
religious discord. I conjured princes and priests (the world's
attorneys) to relax their gripe on each other's throat, till
the general enemy were driven from the shore to the sea
from whence they came. But truth is a sword in a child's
hand, dangerous to himself alone. My doctrine was thought
damnable. I narrowly escaped adding my name to the list
of martyrs. Every where throughout the east I saw the
necessity of a great moral revolution. The old system is
there in all the grey and hoary Rightfulness of desolation
and decay ; and will remain dreary and hideous, till an
entirely new one shall spring up. Time alone can effect
this ; and the efforts of hands like mine to hasten his tor-
toise-steps are puerile."

" It seems to me," I observed, " that we have not much
to brag of in Europe. There is room for alteration ; and
men's minds, and hands too, are already at the work of re-
generation."

" Ay, but for themselves alone, as among the natives
here. Europe is an old man's child, an unnaturally begotten
and wrinkled abortion, created out of the shattered frag-
ments of the wreck of theEast, pieced and joined ingeniously
together, but without solidity. It is an antique bronze,
patched and smeared with whitewash, a plaster miniature
copy from a granite statue. The finger of destruction is
already upon it, like a Spartan mother's on her puny off-
spring. Thus thinking, I was roused from my dreams of
reformation ; and, having expended my gold, and wanting
bread, I turned round, resolved henceforth to go- with the
stream, and say, with the wise philosopher, ancient Pistol,
— ' the world's mine oyster, which I with sword will open.*
I returned to the sea, went to the Mauritius, fitted out an

A YOUNGER SON. 99

armed vessel on credit, and quadrupled my former capital;
-— it was but fair I should have interest for my money,
My person is not much known ; however, I seldom trust
myself in any of the residences. My visit to Bombay was
to achieve animportant object — not to dispose of the paltry
cargo of the grab. Yet," laughing, he continued, ic if they
had grabbed me there ! Why, what do you think ? That
very cargo they have paid for — once at least, as I have
vouchers for that — and perhaps twice, if the original vend-
ers have not been defrauded of it. Six months ago, cruising
in this grab, under French colours, I cut off a lazy Com-
pany's ship from Amboyna, lagging astern of her convoy,
— that was her cargo ! I have intelligence of some more
of them loading at Banda, and perhaps we may fall in with
them. When they are swollen up like leeches, I know
where to put my thumb on them, and squeeze them till
they disgorge. What say you ? "

" With all my heart !" I answered. " But, till I came
here, I always heard that our colonies were for the protec-
tion of the poor devils, they not being able to take care of
themselves, and for their conversion to Christianity; — then,
when baptised and civilised, emancipation will follow."

et Truly so it will, — when they are converted. It is
curious, though now so few stomachs are gross enough to
retain cant or caster oil, that every quack thinks he has a
method of insinuating either of them down the throat
without nausea. We are drenched, whether we will or no.
with oil of cant, as a panacea for all complaints. This h
certainly the age of gold, for who values any thing else ?
Women, saints, and philosophers squabble now for nothing
but loaves and fishes. Who speculates on any other sub-
ject than how to fill his purse ? And what is not to be
attained by gold, from kingdoms to mitres and maidens ?
This merchant-company say they have an exclusive right
(which is a general wrong) to the entire produce of this
great empire. On what a grand scale is robbery now car-
ried on ! Petty plundering is out of fashion, and put to
shame. The mighty thieves have now enclosed that
beautiful island, — I wonder we are allowed to inhale its
fragrant odours ! "

h 2

100 ADVENTURES OP

"What! Ceylon!"

cc Yes ; they have there a ring-fence of posts, in which
the King of Candy is enmeshed. He calls the English
beach-masters, hut soon will they he his masters. Jungle,
reptiles, nor fever, can hold back those led on by insatiable
avarice, till glutted with entire possession. The other
spice-islands will follow. Then no rock so bare but they
will covet, and convert to their own purposes. Yet their
reign will be but as a day ; the time of just retribution
will come, and that speedily."

" You are too sweeping in your strictures, De Ruyter.
At least, they make a show of doing some good. They
have established schools, built churches, started newspapers^
— which are the banners of freedom."

" It is but showing false colours ! The schools are for
their own offsets ; the churches to provide for knaves ;
and their printing, being entirely under their own censor-
ship, is one canto of premeditated lies for exportation.
As for priests, — better the pkgue had crossed the equa-
tor ! They are a well-sifted compound of bigots and
fools, of knaves, Jesuits, presbyterians, moravians, and the
bilious tribe of croaking, beetle-browed, ravenous, obscure
dissenters. We had venomous reptiles enough before they
were let loose on us."

(i You are now growing scurrilous, if not blasphemous.
Remember they have made converts even of some of your
own men."

" They have converted honest men into hypocrites, like
themselves ; but if I catch any more on board, I'll keel-
hale them. As long as there are beggars and outcasts,
and they give rice and arrack, a sprinkling of water on the
forehead won't stand in the way of a meal and a glass of
grog down their throats."

i( A few honest men there must be among them."

<e Perhaps so ; but their being here is no proof of their
wisdom. And what can they do ? Before they have
become seasoned to the climate, and have learnt the lan-
guage, most of them drop off. The rest devote themselves,
not to saving souls from being damned, but to preaching
damnation on each other. If their sacerdotal cloaks cover

A YOUNGER SON. 101

aught but hypocrisy, the Company know how to slake
their holy zeal by letting them plainly see their labour is
in vain. The vagabonds they do baptise are left. on their
hands, unsaleable as rotten sheep ; for none of the Com-
pany's servants are permitted to employ them ; nay, if
before employed, they lose their bread with their caste,
lest they should taint the flock. Merchants know that
the many-faced and many-handed Bramah is a fit god for
slaves ; they know also that they may keep their ground
while the multitudinous conflicting castes of superstitious
idolatry shall endure ; and that their tenure would be of
little worth, if the natives were united in one religion. —
But the sun is sinking in the wave ; and by its bloody
mantle, and by the mares' tails streaming in the sky, we
shall surely have a breeze. I have only this to add : I
am no hungry dog, to stand patiently by, in the hope of
picking a bone, which these lordly merchants, in general,
pretty successfully blanch before they leave it. Let them
gorge themselves undisturbed till, like the vulture, their
weight is too heavy for their wings ; then we, like
hawks, after hovering in watchfulness, will pounce upon
them. No harm in despoiling robbers ! A convoy of
Company's country craft, protected by their own cruisers,
— whom I hold as trash for aping ships of war, — has
sailed for the spice islands. By the by, you must trans-
form your body, with an abbah, into an Arab's, — when
they can't detect you. I have written full instructions.
Continue your course to Goa, where I will follow. On
no account go on shore till my arrival. The Parsee mer-
chant, for whom I have prepared a letter, will do all you
want. See, the breeze is springing up ! Haul the boat
alongside ! "

He shook my hand, jumped into the boat, and returned
to the old dow.

hS

102 ADVBNTU RES OF

CHAPTER XXVIL

We can escape even now,
So we take fleet occasion by the hair. * Shelley.

Nothing particular occurred till our arrival at Goa. I
had rigged myself in loose dark trowsers, and purple vest,
with a high black cap of Astracan lamb's skin, a cashmere
shawl round my waist, and a small creese stuck in it.
My long dark elf-locks were shaven off, with the exception
of one, on the crown, by which the black-eyed houris were
to haul me into paradise. A roll of beetle nut, properly
chinammed, stuck in, or was rather sticking out, of my
cheek. My teeth were dyed in the bright red colour of
chess-men ; and my bare neck, arms, and ancles were
well greased and highly polished. The men gathered
around in congratulation, declared unanimously that I
must be, that I was decidedly, Arab, and even went so far
as to demand who was my father, and of what tribe.

I lay to, off the point of Cape Ramas, all night, await-
ing the dow, passed under the fort of Aguada, and an-
chored in the harbour of Goa. The sun rose magnifi-
cently, glittering on the marble monasteries, and on the
ruined arches and colleges of the old town, spread over an
extent which showed it had once been a nourishing city.
The bunder, or pier, was breached by the sea, and in the
harbour was nothing but a motley assemblage of country
small craft. I sent the Rais on shore with the ship's
papers and the letter to the merchant. In the evening the
dow came to an anchor under our stern ; and at night-fall
De Ruyter was again with me.

On the following day he went up the country to meet
some agents of the Rajah of Mysore, and a Mahratta
prince ; leaving me at Goa to discharge the remaining
part of the cargo, consisting of coffee and rice, and to take
in ballast, and to complete our water. When he returned
to Goa, I saw with him a Greek and a Portuguese, whom

A YOUNGER SON. 103

I believed to be spies in his employment. They used to
meet in the ruins of a monastery or college in the old
town, close to the sea, always at night. On these occasions
De Ruyter came on board for one of the grab's boats,
which landed him there. Their conferences were from
twelve to two, a. m. The crew of the boat was even
selected by De Ruyter.

Having got every thing ready for sea, we removed all
the men, and what else was useful, from the old dow,
which was here given up to her owners. I warped out-
side the harbour, and every night at sunset I hoisted the
boats in, and hove short, lying in readiness to move on
the instant. On the tenth day after our arrival, one hour
after midnight, I observed, by the phosphoric light spark-
ling on the black surface of the water, something approach-
ing us with unusual rapidity. The hallooing and distant
turmoil in the harbour was hushed ; the moving lights on
the shore had been some time extinguished, but just then
I thought I descried some commotion on the pier. As the
sound was borne off by the light air from the land, I dis-
tinctly heard some one hailing a boat in the port. This
was repeated louder and louder. Lights then reappeared
along the beach, and I heard the noise of oars, and spars,
and boats, as if moving from amongst others to the shore.
The noise growing higher, I turned towards the first ob-
ject which had caught my attention in the other quarter ;
and, though all was silent there, I still distinguished the
sparkling ripple in the waters, and the long arrowy line of
light, such as a shooting star leaves in the heavens, or the
wake of a boat darting on a calm sea in this climate. By
the muffled sound of oars, and by the long and heavy
strokes which De Ruyter had taught the men in his
favourite boat, I knew her, and marvelled at her returning
before whe wonted hour, and at the rapidity with which
she approached. The noise in the harbour augmented.
My mind misgave me that all was not right. I felt my
heart flutter with anxiety of I knew not what. I called the
Serang, who was asleep (the Rais being with the boat),
told him to rouse the men^ and, in my impatience, kicked
them up myself.

h 4

104 ADVENTURES OF

Ordering them to man the capstan, loose the jib and
fore -top- sail, and cast off the lashings of the fore and aft
mainsail, I returned to the gangway ; where now seeing
our boat, I hailed her. Instead of the usual reply of
<e Acbar," a voice answered in a low and suppressed tone,
" Yup ! Yup ! " (silence ! silence !) I had been instructed
regarding this signal, and, rushing to the bow, I seized the
axe lying by its side in readiness, then, ordering the jib to
be hoisted to pay her round, cut the cable, together with
a chip from an Arab's leg, who was standing by it.

De Ruyter then came forward, and said : " That was
right, my boy, in cutting the cable ; but be cool, — you
have wounded this poor fellow, — send him into the
cabin. Clap all the canvass on her instantly. I'll go aft.
The blood-hounds have hit on a scent ; they think to find
us like jungle-fowls at roost ; but they shall find a pan-
ther, and he is never caught sleeping ! "

He sprang aft. We wore slowly round; and, as I was
cursing the length of her kelstow, and the lightness of the
breeze, which made her so tardy in paying round, De
Ruyter put his hand on my shoulder, and said, " Arm the
men, * * * * ! — but only with their spears. Let no
boat come alongside of us, or attempt it. Speak them
fair; but if a man puts his hand on the ladder, spear him
as you would a wild boar. There is no occasion for salt-
petre, it makes a noise and has a bad smell. Harpoon
them ! but not till I tell you. I must keep back, and not
be seen. If they question you about De Witt, the mer-
chant, say you know him not."

Two boats were approaching, and the foremost hailed
us with, " Grab, ahoy V I answered. They commanded
me to heave to, as they wished to see the captain. I
ordered the Serang to let the mainsail fall, and loose the
top-gallant- sails, and replied, " We are going to sea. I
have got my port clearances and ship's papers, all regu-
larly signed at the proper offices. I can't lose this breeze.
What do you want ? "

" Heave to, sir, or we shall fire ! "

cc You had better not/' I said.

We had not yet got weigh enough on her to distance

A YOUNGER SON. 105

the first boat, which belonged to the captain of the port.
Be Ruyter ordered the men to lie down on deck. He
stood at the helm. He was jusfc calling to me to keep
under cover, when, with a flash of light from the boat, a
bail whizzed by my head, and went into the mast. In
obedience to De Ruyter' s orders, I did not return it, much
against my inclination. Soon after, as the boat was shoot-
ing up to board us on the gangway, De Ruyter, bearing
away, brought them under the lee quarter. Not being
able to board us there, they lost some time, by falling
astern, before they could re-use their oars. In this way
(the breeze now freshening a little) we kept them off some
time, during which not a word was spoken. De Ruyter
remained at the helm, and I, with a party of men, stood
ready, all armed with, spears, to prevent their boarding us.
The other boat was nearing us, and both had fired many
muskets ; but we, sheltered by the bulk-heads of the deep
waist, were untouched. The foremost boat now got hold
of the lee chains, and they were very coolly coining on
board. De Ruyter said, Ci Cheelo, chae !" (Advance,
boys !) when we thrust our spears through the port-holes,
and three or four, with their leader, fell back, spitted,
into the boat, yelling with pain. Notwithstanding an
officer's commanding them to hold on, they would not ;
but as the other boat was coming up under the stern, I
cast off one of the after guns, ran it out of the stern port,
and, hailing both the boats, I said, " If you pull another
stroke in our wake, or play your fire- works off under our
stern, you shall hear the roar of this brazen serpent.
Command where you have power to enforce obedience ;
you have none here."

I blew the cotton match ; they saw the bright brass
muzzle of the gun depressed to a line with the boat, when
I could have blown them to pieces. They lay on their
oars ; and their oaths and threats, mingled with the rip-
pling of the waves, died away, while we, crowded with
sail, majestically receded from the port, and beheld them
returning from their bootless expedition to the shore.

105 ADVENTUEES OF

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Th&slim canoe
Of feather'd Indian darts about, as through
The delicatest air. Keats.

After taking the bearings of the land, De Ruyter patted
me on the back, and said, e< Those who fight under the
banner of silence are victorious, whilst noise and threats
end in defeat. The force of air or fire, when concentrated
and confined, is irresistible. Women, and weak people,
and boys before they have learnt to bite, bluster and
threaten. A silent man, with a drawn weapon, is to be
dreaded, because he is determined. When a man vaunts
or menaces, he is either afraid, or he wavers in his pur-
pose — I have ever found it so. Come, you have made
a proper beginning ! — why, your wariness exceeds that
of the oldest and most experienced. What induced you
to keep so much on the alert, that you were prepared to
be under weigh before I even hailed you ? I thought the
night-owls on shore had anticipated me, and were along-
side of you."

I told him the reasons which had impressed me with
an idea that all was not right. " Well ! " he added, (i I
had great confidence in you, and anticipated much when
your judgment should be perfected by experience. But,
in some natures, quickness of perception is in tuition, like
instinct, — it is strange. But go, my lads, you have
worked hard, and when overwrought we must have rest.
Go to sleep ; I will keep the watch to -night.' ' He shook
me as I lay half dozing, with my head on the hatchway,
saying, " The night dew, with a land wind, is here as
venomous as the serpent's bite; it is heavy with the
vapours from the jungles. Good night !" Notwithstand-
ing my objections to leave the deck, complaining of the
heat, and urging that we might still be pursued, he was
peremptory that I should go below. " No fear/' said he ;

A YOUNGER SON. 107

(c before daylight the eye of the eagle will not descry us,,
though perched on the highest rock. Good night ! "

The change of atmosphere, which takes place an hour
before the night is seen to break into day, awoke me. I
stumbled up the ladder on deck, and was only thoroughly
roused by breaking my shins against a gun -bolt. De
Ruyter was standing on a gun-carriage, looking over the
stern with a night-glass; the moon was reflected on his
face ; he looked haggard with watching, and his hair and
moustachios were dank with dew. Saluting him, I requested
he would go to rest, and apologised for my long sleep. cs I
only wonder," was his answer, " you are up so early ; but
the young and happy rest when the sun withdraws his
light, and awaken when he unfolds his curtains. At my
age you will keep company with the moon, and prefer the
shadowy silence of night to the glaring day, which is the
prelude of never ending, and never useful toil."

We were standing to the southward and westward,
under a press of canvass. The watch were sleeping in
groups under cover of the half-decks. As the day broke,
De Ruyter looked carefully around the horizon, and
ordered the watch to be awakened to their diurnal duties,
never ending on board a ship, and he ascertained the only
sails in sight to be country vessels. Our distance from
the harbour and land was such as to blend all minute
points into an undefined mass, its dark outline broken by
the fleecy clouds of morning, and enveloped in transparent
vapours. We took our departure from the land, and De
Ruyter retired to the cabin, pricked her run of the night
on the chart, gave me directions how to steer, and when
to call him, covered himself in his capote, and slept.
Hauling up as he directed, I kept a S, E. course, to make
the southernmost of the Lacadive Islands.

In getting into the latitude of these islands, we were
many days becalmed. My mind was then too elastic to
be oppressed with weariness. I loved the sea in all its
moods. During the day the duties of the ship occupied
me ; and, notwithstanding the grab remained as stationary
as if she had taken root, time seemed to keep pace with
the swallow. My inclinations and duty were, for the first

108 ADVENTURES OP

time, blended together, and, from a drowsy boy, I all at
once, as if by magic, became transformed into a most
active and energetic man.

De Ruyter wished to give his vessel a more warlike trim.
We hoisted up four verdigrised brass nine-pounders, se-
creted under the ballast on the kelstow, and mounted them.
We fitted and filled shot-lockers on deck, made cartridges,
and prepared two furnaces for heating shot red-hot. We
put the magazine in order, made rockets and blue-lights,
cleaned and whitewashed between decks, mustered and
quartered the men, exercised them, and practised the guns
and small arms, and I learned to use the spear and creese
under the tuition of the Rais.

We had fourteen Europeans, chiefly from the dow;
they were Swedes, Dutch, Portuguese, and French. We
had also a few Americans, together with samples of almost
all the seafaring natives of India ; Arabs, Mussulmans,
Daccamen, Cooleys, and Lascars. Our steward and purser
was a mongrel Frenchman, the cabin-boy English, the
surgeon Dutch, and the armourer and master-of-arms
Germans, De Ruy ter was indifferent as to where his men
were born, or of what caste they were ; he distinguished
them by their worth alone, I was astonished at such
dissimilar and incongruous ingredients being mingled to-
gether with so little contention ; but it was the consummate
art of the master-hand, his cool and collected manner,
which regulated all : before a murmur was heard, he fore-
stalled every complaint by a timely remedy. He himself
was the most active and unwearied in toil, the first in
every danger, and every thing he did was done quicker
and better than it could have been by any other person.
In short, he would have been, amidst an undistinguished
throng of adventurers, in any situation of peril or enter-
prise, by a unanimous voice, their chosen leader. The
most unforeseen calamity, which struck the hardiest aghast,
when all looked in hopeless despair, he was prepared to
meet, not by submitting to it, but by an opposition equal
to the emergency. This, however, must be shown in his
actions, and I proceed with our voyage.

On the fourth day, the sameness of the scene, the blue

A YOUNGER SON. 109

sky and blue sea, underwent a change. Masses of clouds
began to move and meet until the horizon was overcast
with gloom. We took in our light canvass, and double-
reefed the top-sails. Cat's paws, or light airs, came scud-
ding along the waters from all points of the compass,
amidst pale streaks of lightning and low thunder. Then
the rain fell in torrents, and the rippling of the sea, borne
by the eddy- winds into puny waves contending for sway,
subsided, and now, bending all one way, was accompanied
by a steady breeze instead of a violent gale, which we had
expected. The clouds evaporated in rain ; and, borne by
a steady wind from the N.E., at daylight we came in
sight of the Lacadive islands.

The canoes of the natives here astonished me. They
are called by Europeans, owing to the wonderful rapidity
with which they sail, flying prows. One of them hull
down on our lee beam, we going under a staggering top-
gallant breeze eleven knots an hour, came up to windward
of us, standing two points nearer the wind, and passed up
as if we had been stationary. There was a short breaking
sea : two or three of her men, standing on her outriggers,
looked as if they flew on the waters. She dashed not over,
but through the sea, and at times was quite enveloped in
the spray, resembling the reaction of a water- spout after
its breaking.

De Ruyter drew a sketch, and gave me a description of
the boat. " These untaught people/' he said, (C have
achieved, in the construction of that vessel, the triumph
and perfection of naval architecture, in which we, with all
our learning, study, and encouragement, have not gone
beyond our ABC, as far as concerns swiftness, dexterity
in change of direction, the making no lee- way, and, above
all, simplicity of working. They have done all this ; con-
sequently the construction of their proa is, in every part,
in contradistinction to our ideas of naval architecture. We
build the head and stern of a vessel as dissimilar as pos-
sible ; they construct them precisely of the same form and
proportions. The sides of our vessels, on the other hand,
are precisely the same ; but in the proa you see the sides
altogether different. The proa never tacks, sailing indif-

110 ADVENTURES OF

ferently with either end foremost, as occasion serves ; hut
the same side is constantly the weather one. The left, or
lee-side, is flat as a plumb line can make it ; consequently
she would capsise, the weather-side being rounded, and
from her great length and narrow beam ; but, to prevent
this, on the lee- side, an outrigger, made of bamboos, pro-
jects considerably into the sea, and supports a heavy log
of cocoa wood, shaped like a solid canoe. This gives her
an immense artificial beam, without opposing much resist,
ance to the water. Between this outrigger and the flat
side of the proa, the water passes without obstruction, and
is the cause both of her celerity, and that no lee-way is
made. The proa itself, or body of the boat, is merely a
few planks sewed together, and wadded between the seams
with coir-oakum. Not a nail, nor a bit of metal, is about
her. The sail is matting, the mast and yards are of bam-
boo. When they want to go about, they bear away and
bring what is then the stern to the wind, move the heel of
the triangular sail till they fix it on the opposite end, and
at the same time shift the boom into the opposite direction ;
so that what was the stern is then the head, and a man to
steer always remains at each of the extremities. It may
be said of them that they keep pace with the wind. No
European vessel, in any weather, ever had a chance with
them. They are admirably adapted for the navigation of
islands situated in the latitude of the trade- winds, being
enabled to cross on a wind from one to the other, with as
unerring a flight as a crane ; while, in our vessels, if we
miss the object steered for, by making lee-way, we have
great difficulty, and lose time in beating up. True it is
they are of small capacity, adapted solely to the simple
commerce of bartering superfluous productions for absolute
necessaries. The ordinary Indian canoe would not serve
their purpose ; it either foundered in sudden squalls, or
was driven to leeward of its destined port. By their in-
genuity they invented this simple alteration and addition,
and attained the important results I have pointed out."

A YOUNGER SON. Ill

CHAPTER XXIX.

And first one universal shriek there rush'd

Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder ; and then all was hush'd

Save the wild wind, and the remorseless dash
Of billows ; but at intervals there gush'd,

Accompanied with a convulsive splash,
A solitary shriek, — the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony. Byron.

On nearing one of these islands, I went on shore to see the
natives, and obtain fruit. In the night the breeze again
died away. At daylight we saw two or three square-
rigged vessels, about two leagues to the westward of us,
lying becalmed. I boarded one of them, in a boat with
ten men well armed ; and her Rais, who was in great ap-
prehension, told me had been boarded off the Persian
Gulf, by a large Malay brig, full of men. They had not only
plundered him and two other vessels in his company, but
killed several of his men, using them with great cruelty. He
added, that this Malay had been cruizing at the entrance
of the gulf, and had rifled a vast number of vessels.

I brought the captain and some of his crew on board
the grab. After De Ruyter had satisfied himself that the
man's story, with all the particulars, was true, he instantly
determined to look after the Malay. The Persians told
him she was full of gold, and that her cargo was so rich,
she had cast rich bales of Persian silk into the sea, not
having** room to stow them.

In the evening a light breeze sprung up, and we made a
long stretch to the northward and westward, anticipating to
fall in with her before she entered the straights of Malacca.
We made a capital run in the ensuing days, kept a good
look out, and daily boarded many country boats and vessels,
hoping to learn intelligence of the pirate. Day and night
we were most vigilant, and hourly our hopes were excited by
some passing stranger, whom we all swore was the Malay,
whom we chased, and then were as often chagrined at find-
ing our hopes deceived, or, rather, at their deceiving us.

H2 ADVENTURES OF

De Ruyter' s patience was now exhausted. He had im-
portant despatches for the Isle of France, and would brook
no longer detention. We therefore reluctantly altered our
course again to the southward, and, after running twenty
or thirty leagues in that direction, at daylight, when the
horizon was particularly clear, before the sun arose with
his misty mantle, the man at the mast-head called out, u A
large sail on the lee-bow !"

Fearing she might be a man -of-war, I took a glass up
to the mast-head; where, after straining my eyes to make
her out, De Ruyter hailed me with, (i Well, what is she?"

1 replied with confidence, " The Malay ! "

" Which way is she standing ? "

Ci She has not yet seen us, and her course is to the north-
ward."

Then I described her : and De Ruyter said, " Very pos-
sibly you are right."

I came on the deck. The horizon became misty ; and,
as they had neglected to keep a look-out, we trusted we
should get much nearer ere she discovered us. We bore
down on her under every stitch of sail wTe could spread.
The studding-sails we wetted with an engine for that pur-
pose, to make them hold the light breeze better ; and at
eight o'clock she saw us, and bore away. We had gained
considerably on her; the head of her lower yards were
then visible from our deck ; and De Ruyter said, " If the
breeze holds till mid-day, she cannot escape us,"

There was an alacrity and a buzz of joy throughout
our crew, intent for plunder. We pumped the water out,
lightened her by throwing some tons of ballast overboard,
winged and shifted the iron shot, cleared the decks for ac-
tion, got the arms and boats ready for service and for
hoisting out, and watched and antedated all the motions of
the enemy, as the hawk does the curlew.

At noon the breeze freshened, and we gained rapidly on
her; nevertheless it was six p.m. before we came within
long shot. We then kept up a fire from the bow-chasers.
For some time she disregarded this. We had hoisted a
French tri-coloured flag,De Ruyter, indeed, having a French
letter of marque's commission, which he now produced for

A YOUNGER SON. 113

me to read, as the only person among the officers ignorant
of that fact. The shots now falling over and on board
of the Malay, her top-gallant sails were lowered ; and we
ran up under her lee-quarter, shortened sail, and backed
the top-sail.

A Malay on board of us was desired to hail her. Her
deck swarmed with men. We ordered her to send a boat
with her papers on board of us ; and seeing they paid no
attention to this order, De Ruyter again fired a shot over
her. She returned this with a volley from four carronades,
divers small swivels on her gunwales, and twenty or thirty
match-lock muskets, when the pieces of old iron, glass,
and nails, with which they were loaded, rattled against our
rigging, and three of our men were wounded, u Damn
their impudence ! " exclaimed De Ruyter, u they shall
have enough of it ! "

We opened and kept up such a heavy, low, and well-
directed fire, manoeuvring with our broadside on her stern
and quarters, that, in ten minutes, De Ruyter called out
to cease firing, as we had not only silenced her fire, but
entirely cleared her deck, cut her rigging to pieces, and
shot away her rudder. Our boats were then ordered to be
hoisted out, and, with thirty men in three boats, I shoved
off to board her ; De Ruyter cautioning me to be par-
ticularly careful against their cunning and treachery.
"They must have been," said he, laughing, "a colony
founded by the ancient Greeks, for they have all the cha-
racteristics of my modern friend at Goa."

We approached her warily. Not the smallest impedi-
ment was opposed to us. Indeed nothing gave token that
there was a being on board of her. I ordered the Rais,
who commanded one boat, to board her on the bow with
his Arabs ; whilst I, with a party, chiefly Europeans, and
a gallant set of fellows they were, climbed up her orna-
mented quarters and bamboo stern. On getting on board,
we saw many dead and wounded on her deck, but nothing
else. She was only about two- thirds decked, having an
open waist, latticed with bamboo, and covered with mats.
Her sails and yards were hanging about in confusion. We
were now all on deck, and a party of men was preparing
z

114 ADVENTURES OF

to descend between decks; when, while replying to De
Ruyter's questions, I was suddenly startled at hearing a
wild and tumultuous war-whoop, and springing forwards,
I saw a grove of spears thrust up from below, which, pass-
ing through the matting, wounded many of our men. I
was certainly as much astonished at this novel mode of
warfare as Macbeth at the walking wood of Dunsinane.
Running round the solid portion of the deck, several spears
were thrust at me, which I with difficulty escaped. Some
of my men had retreated ; I ordered them to fire down
below, through the open work. Most of the men belong-
ing to the Rais, who were not wounded, had jumped over-
board to regain their boat.

Hailing De Ruyter, I informed him how the affair stood.
He desired me to make fast a halser, which he would send
me, to the ring-bolts of her bob-stays, secure it to her bow-
sprit, and that then we should all return to the grab ; he
being very careful of the lives of his men, and knowing
that these pirates, when once they have made up their
minds not to be taken, will abide by their resolution. I
told him that if he had any hand-grenades, or fire-balls, I
would rout them out. Though we had already made consider-
able havoc among them, I was very anxious, as were all the
Europeans, to go below at every hazard, but our native
crew were opposed to this ; and seven or eight of us could
have had little chance, unable, in the dark, to see our
enemies, who would spear us from their lurking places,
without endangering themselves.

The crew were busy in handing our wounded men
down into the boat. A Swedish lad, whom I valued for
being an excellent sailor, had been wounded by a spear,
driven through his foot, and was suffering great pain.
Hastening forward to see him handed into the boat, I step-
ped over a dying Malay, shot through the body before we
boarded her. I had previously, in passing him, caught a
glance at his peculiarly ferocious look, and the malignant
expression of his broad and brutish face. His coarse,
black, straight hair was clotted with blood from a wound
in his head, apparently by a splinter. As I now stepped
over him, I was arrested by his eye, surrounded by a rigid

A YOUNGER SON. 115

lid, and deeply imbedded above his high cheek-bone, the
sunken pupil still glaring like a glow-worm in a dark vault.
My foot slipped in the gore, and I fell on him ; when, as
I was recovering myself, he griped me with his bony hand,
and made a horrible effort to rise, but his extremities were
stiff. He drew a small creese from his bosom, and with a
last effort tried to bury it in my breast. The passion of
revenge had outlived his physical powers ; its sharp point
slightly grazed me, and he fell dead from the exertion,
dragging me down, his hand still clenching like a vice. I
could only extricate myself by slipping my arm out of my
vest, and leaving it in his ghastly hand. iC Such men as
these," I cried out, " are not to be conquered even by
death ! Their very spirits fight and stab at us ! "

De Ruyter became peremptory for our instant return,
as the night was now coming on, and the Malays below
had again opened a fire on us with their match-locks.
With rage and disappointment I returned.

We had now altogether eight wounded. On reaching
the grab, De Ruyter observed, " There is no help for it !
We must try to tow her towards the land; when near the
shore, they will perhaps escape by swimming. But I fear
we shall not succeed in capturing her."

As we filled our sails and towed her, a gang of men
stood at our stern to fire at any object they could see
moving on board of her. We found it difficult to tow
her : not being steered, she yawed about, and in less than
an hour they had contrived to cut the tow-rope. Under
a cover of musketry we again made fast another, and kept
up a continual fire on her bows. Nothing living was seen
on her decks, yet again the halser was cut. We hailed
her, as we often had done, but no answer was given.

At daylight, De Ruyter came to the determination of
sinking her ; which we reluctantly did, by opening a fire
with our largest guns, and red-hot shot, which had been
prepared during the night. Symptoms of fire from below
soon made their appearance ; smoke slowly arose ; several
explosions of powder took place ; the smoke arose darker,
and in masses ; at last we saw the savages themselves
crawling up on all-fours upon deck. Their guns having
i 2

IlG ADVENTURES OF

been thrown overboard by us, they could make no defence.
Streams of fire now burst out of her hatchways and port-
holes. On the balls going through her, our Arabs swore
they saw the gold-dust, and pearls, and rubies, fly out of
her on the opposite side. I cannot say 1 did ; nor could
I smell the otto of roses, which they affirmed was running
out of her scuppers like a fountain. I saw nothing but the
dense flames and smoke, and the poor devils swarming up
and jumping into the waves, preferring death by water to
fire and balls, — for they had no other choice. Though
v/e lowered our boats to pick them up, not one approached
them ; and the boats did not near the vessel, fearing her
blowing up. She appeared to have an immense number
of men ; not less than two hundred and fifty to three
hundred.

Having given over firing, we lay at some distance, in-
tently gazing at her. After an explosion, louder than the
loudest thunder, which vibrated through the air, we could
see nothing but a black cloud on the waters., enveloping all
around, like a pall, and darkening the heavens; and
where the pirate had been was only to be distinguished by
the bubbling commotion and dashing ripple of the sea,
like the meeting of the tides, or where a whale has been
harpooned, and sunk. Huge fragments of the ship, masts,
tackling, and men, all shattered and rent, lay mingled
around in a wide circle. Some dark heads, still above the
surface, awaiting, as it were, the utmost of our malice,
faintly yelled their last war-cry in defiance ; then a few
bubbles showed where they had been. Her hull was
driven down stern-foremost, and her grave filled up on the
instant.

Even the wind became hushed from the concussion of
the explosion ; and I started as our sails flapped heavily
against the mast, and the grab's hull shook as in terror.
The black cloud cleared away, and slowly swept along the
surface of the sea; then ascended and hung aloft in the
air, concentrated in a dense mass. As 1 gazed on it, me-
thought the pirate ship was changed, but not destroyed,
and that her demon crew had resumed their vocation in
the clouds. De Ruyter said, " It has been an awful and

A YOUNGER SON. 117

painful sight ! — but they deserved their fate. Come, set
our gaping crew to work! Hoist the boats in, and make
all sail on our proper course."

CHAPTER XXX.

This is the way physicians mend or end us,

Secundum artem ; but although we sneer
In health,— when ill, we call them to attend us,

Without the least propensity to jeer. Byron.

Two days after, one of our wounded Arabs died, and his
companions committed him to the deep with their usual
mystic ceremonies. His body was washed with great at-
tention ; his head was carefully shaved and cleaned ; his
mouth, nostrils, ears, and eyes were stuffed with cotton
saturated in camphor, with which his body was also
anointed; the joints of his legs and arms were broken,
and then tightly bandaged in the mummy form ; and,
with a twelve-pound shot fixed to his lower extremities,
the mutilated carcass was launched into the ocean. Upon
inquiring why they broke his joints, I was answered that
it was to prevent his following the ship ; because, had they
neglected to fulfil this sacred duty, his body would float en
the waters, and his spirit pursue them for ever.

It did not appear that the Malays had, in this instance,
poisoned their spears ; for the men rapidly recovered from
their wounds, except the Swedish boy, whose wound was
of such a nature that, had not De Ruyter added to his
other chieftain's qualifications surgical knowledge, superior
to many of the diploma'd butchers, we should have lost
him. De Ruyter gave up his own state- cabin to him,
where we both attended to his wants, without a thought of
saving ourselves trouble by permitting the doctor, for the
sake of practice, to lop off the limb, which most of the
faculty would have done, and of which he strongly urged
the necessity.

Van Scolpvelt, our surgeon, had been engaged out of a
i 3

118 ADVENTURES OF

Dutch East Indiaman, where he was suigeon's-assistant,
and grown old, hoping to see service, and be a surgeon.
But the muddy mettle of those burghers could be stirred
by nothing but the prospect of gain ; and their antipathy
to powder was as great as that of Quakers, so that he be-
came weary for want of practice, and the instruments of
his trade grew dull and rusty. All the practice he had on
board of her was in administering an emetocatharticus, an
enema, or simple dejectors, to the swag-bellied Hollanders,
after gormandising had disarranged the gastric functions,,
His dignity — and moreover the dignity of his profession —
which he alone revered, he thought compromised by this
degrading application of science. He therefore gladly
closed with De Ruyter's proposition, and had now accom-
panied him in several voyages.

He said, u De Ruyter is a considerate creature, and
generally keeps me tolerably employed. He has only one
great blemish in his character, unaccountable in a man so
liberally-minded and humane ; and that is, in siding with
the heathenish prejudices of his barbarous crew, and
opposing, in all cases, amputation. On this point," ad-
dressing himself to me, " you Englishmen are the most
enlightened people on earth. Your government, too, with
providential care, fearing that surgeons, like others un.
tinctured by the love of science, may not like gratuitous
work, give (I have been told) a premium for every limb or
shoot pruned off from the parent trunk ; thus, from the
multitude of the maimed, their knives don't rust, and it
must make a very pretty addition to their salaries. Then
not only the operator, but the operatee, is bountifully com-
pensated, getting more by his limb off than he ever earned
by it on. Why I" he exclaimed, with unusual energy,
" I, Van Scolpvelt, assisted in taking off a mar/s leg in an
English frigate, and it was the pleasantest operation I ever
attended. It was a compound fracture : the man had fallen
from the mast, so that the knee-bone was forced through
the integuments into the deck. The next day the man
recovered his faculties, and we commenced upon him. It
would have done your heart good to see him, — I wish you
had,, — he was a glorious subject ! No one could have

A YOUNGER SON. 119

witnessed the operation without astonished delight ! He
never squeaked, or made a wry face, or spoke a word till
it was over ; and then, turning his quid, he only asked for
a glass of grog ; — if there had been but one bottle in the
world, he should have had it ! — I loved him ! They are
good people, and feel no more than the log of wood that
carpenter is now adzing ; — no patient ought ! Now this
boy in the cabin, — they would not speak one word to
him, but take off his leg, and then ask him how he feels.
Afterwards he would be sent to the hospital for life, — or
he dies, — no more ! While I shall be three or four
months in curing him, and he, all the time, eating and
drinking, and doing no work. De Huyter does not think
of this ! You are an Englishman ; go and persuade him,
that 's a good lad ! — go and tell him I do it with very
little pain."

I stopped his cajoling whine with — Ci If my leg was
hanging by a remnant of skin, and any doctor clipped it,
I would stab him with one of his own probes I"

He stared at me with unutterable wonder, and, putting
the case of instruments, on which he had been descanting,
in his pocket, he shuffled away, making a noise like a shark's
fin flapping on the deck, which his flat feet resembled.

As De Ruyter called him to answer some questions, I
could not refrain from running my eye over his ex-
traordinary figure. He had a small, dry, sapless body,
then stripped for operating, which I could compare to
nothing but a gigantic russet-haired caterpillar. His
wizened face was puckered up like a withered shaddock, or
Chinese mandarin. His pate was bald, hedged round with
long, wiry, reddish-grey hair. The hair, that should have
been on his eyebrows, eyelids, and beard, having entirely
deserted its several , posts, was dotted about on his lank
cheeks, chin, and neck, the latter of which was long as a
heron's, and seemed covered with scorched parchment.
Four or five irregular, yellow- crusted tusks boomed from
his jaw, like the wild hog's; and his capacious mouth, and
thin, fishy lips, were like a John Dory's. His eyes were
small and sunken, with a mixture of light red, green, and
yellow.

i 4

120

ADVENTURES OF

Yet, notwithstanding his immoderate love of practice,
and this preposterous exterior, he was not deficient in a
certain sort of ability, and was an enthusiast in his mystery.
When not actively engaged, his recreation consisted in
poring over old Dutch surgical works, chiefly manuscripts,
or, if not, closely interlined and annotated, throughout the
margins, by his own hand, and illuminated with disgusting
representations of appaling operations in their horrible
preternatural colours. His dress, on ordinary occasions,
was composed of such stray articles as he picked up in the
sick-ward, or plucked from the corpse of a savage. As to
his age, it was impossible to form a guess at it ; for he
looked like the resurrection of an Egyptian mummy, yet
he was active, always awake (as far as we knew), and his
faculties were unimpaired.

He was in animated discussion with De Ruyter as they
returned to where I stood, with his hand extended, of
which he was somewThat vain. It was long and narrow,
like the claw of a bird of prey ; so utterly devoid of flesh,
that on meeting him at night with a candle shaded between
his palms, the light shone so clearly through them that I
asked him to let me have the loan of the signal lanthorn he
was carrying. But he valued his hand from its useful
properties. <c For," as he said, <e where a ball goes, there
I can follow it," stretching cut a long ghastly finger, adorned
with the only ornament he wore — a huge silver-mounted,
antique, carbuncle ring, embossed with cabalistic characters.

I went below with the doctor to see the wounded, where
he proceeded to business without delay, using his probe
with the same sort of indifference as a man does a pipe-
stopper. When he had probed, and cut, and fingered
those who had mere flesh wounds, De Ruyter insisted on
his looking at the scratch on my breast. He did so, and
pointed out to the standers-by the physiology of the part,
descanting on the action and effect of Indian poison, and
on the subtlety with which it infuses itself by absorption
into the whole animal economy, through the circulation of
the blood and nervous system. " That is, to be plain/*
said he, " having taken the outposts, having poisoned.

A YOUNGER SOX. 121

paralysed, and wormed its way through the husk and shell,
it eats into the kernel. Then., beginning with the extre-
mities, which it destroys, it gathers and concentrates its
power, till, the venom touching the heart, the patient is
seized with convulsions, and dies."

Such was the tune the Dutch doctor sang in my ears, as
he was preparing a red-hot iron, which, with the gloating-
look of a sensualist, he applied to my breast. Whether
this prevented the agreeable voyage of the poison through
my system, I know not ; but it certainly converted a slight
scratch into a spreading and ulcerated sore, which troubled
me for a long time.

When he came to examine, for the second time, the
really bad wound of the boy, he revelled in his description
of the muscles and tendons torn and wounded in the instep.
Gangrene and mortification were the least that must ensue :
he declared that unless amputation above the ancle took
place, in four-and-twenty hours he might be compelled to
remove the entire quarter up to the hip^ and yet with little
probability of saving his life, as a patient generally expired
under the operation.

The poor boy cried, and petitioned first the doctor and
then me. I called De Ruyter, who absolutely forbade the
operation. To compensate in some measure for this, the
surgeon, after having the boy held, set to work on him
with as much ingenuity as an Indian when flaying a staked
enemy ; and when the boy happily became insensible from
the excruciating torture, the doctor looked at him, then
round in astonishment, and said, <( Why does he groan
and faint like a little girl ? Why, you see I merely scrape
the bone ! "

De Ruyter then came down into the cabin, and told him
to bind up the wound, and poultice it. " Doctor," said
he, ci you are like the old cook, who put live eels into a
pasty, and knocked them over the pate with the rolling-
pin, exclaiming, € lie down, ye wantons !' "

When the boy came to his senses, De Ruyter gave him
a glass of brandy, which restored him ; and afterwards
would never allow the wound to be dressed unless he or I

122 ADVENTURES OF

was present ; when, in spite of the doctor's predictions, he
did recover, though slowly. This boy is mentioned par-
ticularly, as I shall have to narrate his melancholy fate.

CHAPTER XXXI,

The sky became
Stagnate with heat, so that each cloud and blast
Languish'd and died ; the thirsting air did claim
All moisture. Shelley.

Our progress was slow ; frequent calms — but, not to be
tedious, my time was fully occupied, and we practised a
thousand amusements. The abstemiousness and temper-
ance of the natives rendered it a less arduous task to govern
them than a crew, however small, of Europeans. Those
of the latter which we had were picked up with great
caution, all holding responsible situations in the ship, and
were also fully occupied. De Ruyter was not only a high-
spirited and excellent commander, but an admirable com-
panion ; so that I had nothing to complain of.

After leaving the Lacadive Islands, we put into one called
Diego Rayes, for wood and water. We then passed a long
cluster called the Brothers ; and, keeping more to the south,
took a fresh departure from Roquepez Island. Some days
after, between the great bank of Garagos and the St. Bran-
don Islands, the man at the mast-head called out — "A
strange sail to the westward !" — and then — £C Another !"

They were in our course ; we stood on. A heavy squall
of mist and rain coming on, we lost sight of them for some
time. On this clearing away, the strangers were visible
from the deck ; and the instant I saw them, I called De
Ruyter from the cabin, being then one o'clock, p. m., telling
him they were certainly two frigates — perhaps French
ones, from Port St. Louis, in the Isle of France.

€c They may be so," said he, " but I doubt it. Give
me the glass." He looked at them attentively, and muu

A YOUNGER SON. 123

tered, <c Too high out of the water ; — canvass too dark ;
hull too short ; — and the yards not square enough for
Frenchmen. No, they are not French. Haul down the
studding sails, and bring her up on the larboard tack, close
to the wind."

On doing this, the headmost stranger hauled his wind,
and shortly after tacked too ; the sternmost held the same
course. The wind was light, and we all kept turning to
windward. The headmost frigate sailed remarkably well,
and left her companion hull-down to leeward ; but yet she
was no match for us. All we feared was the wind chang-
ing, or losing it altogether, which we did at sunset.

During the night we were on the alert ; no light was
allowed, fearing they might see us ; our decks were cleared
for action, the guns double-shotted, and the small arms
were got up in readiness ; not in the vain hope of contend-
ing with the frigate, but as a measure of precaution against
any possible attempt at boarding us with boats. After the
middle watch, a light air came out of the channel of Ga-
ragos, and we made a long stretch to the eastward. The
wind then varied, with intervals of calm ; the night was
dark ; the frigates showed no lights, nor did we see any
thing to form a guess of how they were standing. Our
object was to get among the group of islands, the Brothers ;
by which means we might elude their seeing us again, as
we thought they would, in all probability, retain their posi-
tion between us and the port, which, by the course we were
steering when they first discovered us, we were evidently
bound to. But the breeze had been so scanty during the
night, that we had made but little way. The night, too,
had been cloudy, so that our night-glasses were no of use ;
and we began to feel anxious for the dawn of day.

At last the sombre clouds broke in the east, changing
their colour to purple, which speedily became fringed with
an orange hue, and the circle of the horizon was enlarged.
Still the frigates were not to be seen, and every face was
brightening up with the appearance of day. De Ruyter
stood on a gun, watching a hazy bank of misty clouds on
our lee quarter, which were slowly evaporating, and he
suddenly exclaimed, " There she is I"

124 ADVENTURES OF

I looked, and saw one of the frigates looming in the
vapour, in which she was enveloped, like an island. She
must soon after this have seen us, for she tacked in our
wake, and crowded on all the light canvass she had. She
was not more than nine or ten miles astern, and four to
leeward of us. Her consort we saw at a great distance,
hull-down. We turned all our attention now to trimming
the grab, and we clapped every inch of canvass on her;
then all the deck-lumber was turned overboard. After
watching the frigate for some time, De Ruyter said, u By
Heaven ! she is a crack sailer ! I think she almost holds
her way with us ; and that is what no other vessel can do
in these seas. She must be some new frigate, fresh from
Europe. Besides, in this trim and rig, the grab is not
herself. I don't like the look of the weather ; when the
sun gets up, the breeze will die away. Get all the sweeps
in readiness."

Two hours after this, the water became of a glassy
smoothness. The sun rose like a globe of fire, and looked
terrible ; its piercing rays hardly could be endured ; they
seared to the very brain ; and I was obliged occasionally to
close my eyes in relief from the dazzling glitter, which
I thought would have deprived me of sight. Yet in this
heat the frigate ventured to hoist out her boats, at about
ten, a.m., and give us chace. De Ruyter admired their
hardiness.

For the last hour we had been sweeping ; yet, from our
size, and the disadvantage of labouring with the thermometer
at a hundred and eight in the cabin window, we made
little progress. We therefore made every preparation to
meet the worst ; but De Ruyter observed, " Those
fellows toil in vain ! At mid-day we shall have a sea-
breeze ; then they may hoist in their boats, by which they
will lose time."

As he predicted, a little after noon, flaws of wind began
lightly to ripple the glassy surface to sea- ward ; and then
a faint current of air raised the feathered dog-vane. We
held up the palms of our hands towards it, as in supplica-
tion. The light cotton sails aloft first caught it ; when,

A YOUNGER SOX. 125'

instead of sticking, as if glued, to the spars, they swelled
out to their arched form.

On my telling De Ruyter that one would imagine he
held communion with the elements, he interpreted them so
truly, " And so I do," was his reply ; €C all my life have
I studied them ; but life is too short to comprehend their
mystery ! They are a hook a sailor should ever keep his
eye on ; and it is ever unfolded before him. Those who
do not are unfit to command, and have charge of the lives
and properties of others."

We saw the frigate hoist the recal signal to her boats,
and telegraph to her companion to stand off and on, to
intercept us if we should attempt to bear up during the
night for the Isle of France. De Ruyter had copies both
of the Admiralty and private signals of ships of war, as
well as their telegraphic signals ; which did him good
service on many occasions.

We continued beating up to the weathermost island,
and then the breeze gradually freshened, till we were
compelled to take in our light canvass. The headmost
frigate, as she continued to carry hers, rather gamed
on us. De Ruyter grew impatient at finding that the grab
did not distance her pursuers, as she had been wont to do.
He said she was cramped in her movements ; and, to ease
her, the stays and backstays were slackened ; we cut away
the stern-boat ; got the anchors pressing on her lean-bow
further aft ; and lightened her forwards. We then shifted
ballast in her wings, and, to try her in different trims, he
ordered all the men, with eighteen-pound shot in each
hand, to come aft ; then he removed them from place
to place; but still we could hardly hold her on. He
remarked that her copper was foul with the accursed slime
of Bombay. w Ay," I added, " and the frigate is a
clipper."

The sun sank to rest, cloudless, red, and fiery, as it had
risen. The breeze still freshened; and having neared the
land by eleven o'clock p.m., De Ruyter determined on
bearing away, getting to leeward of the island, and anchor-
ing ; which we did, trusting that the frigate would stand
on co windward, and so lose us. Still, however, we were

126

ADVENTURES OF

on the alert during the night ; or those sleeping had their
arms in readiness : our carronades were loaded with bags
of musquet-balls.

CHAPTER XXXII.

The morning watch was come ; the vessel lay

Her course, and gently made her liquid way ;

The cloven billow flash'd from off her prow

In furrows form'd by that majestic plough. Byron.

The doctor, who had as keen a scent for blood as the
carrion-kite, after having made a platform of gratings in
the hold for the anticipated wounded, thrust his head up
the hatchway from time to time, to ask when the slaughter
was likely to commence, and to solicit two of the boys as
his assistants. At night, when we had anchored, he ven-
tured up, trailing a bandage as long as the log-line, which
he was adroitly rolling up. " Now, my dear fellow/' said
he to me, " it's time I should instruct you. Just sit down
on this gun- slide for one moment, while I show you how
to apply a tourniquet." With these words he lugged one
out from his waistband.

" Nonsense, doctor, I have other things to attend to
than to do your duty."

iC Oh ! you are young and wilful ! Every man should
know how to apply that; for if not done at the critical mo-
ment, I lose my patient, and the wounded man his life.'7

As I was called off to attend to something aft, he went
to De Ruyter, whom he was beseeching to be instructed
how to apply cross and double cross bandages. He was
answered somewhat harshly, and went below, muttering,
" Want of sleep creates fever, fever delirium, and then
madness ! "'

He soon afterwards made his appearance with a small
bottle and glass, and insisted that De Ruyter and I,
and the whole crew, should take a glass of his water. He

A YOUNGER SON. 127

said it was a natural, cooling draught, would allay the heat
of the body, and be as refreshing as sleep. De Ruyter,
who was sorry for having spoken unkindly to him, took the
glass; and saying it was nothing but nitric acid and soda,
drank it.

Van Scolpvelt, finding him so pliant, again lugged out
some fathoms of bandage ; but De Ruyter laughed, and
walked away.

Then I was attacked, and, in succession, most of the
crew ; but he could not, with all his eloquence, dispose of
another drop of his cooling draught on deck ; so that in
despair, and that it might not be lost, he took a bumper
himself, and only refrained from emptying the bottle by
remembering his actual patients below, whom he accord-
ingly drenched.

Wearied and jaded as I was, I looked for daylight with
great anxiety. Older seamen, habituated to such scenes,
lay down at their posts, and soundly slept. De Ruyter
paced the deck with a night-glass in his hand. I bathed
in the chains, by having buckets of water thrown over me,
to keep my eyelids from closing, till De Ruyter entreated
me to lie down for an hour.

At the first glimpse of daylight we were all astonished,
as the object which caught our sight was the frigate at
anchor, and not three miles from us. Her lying close
under the high land, and her hull being hid from us by
some high rocks, projecting into the sea, together with the
shadow of the mountain, had prevented us from seeing her
during the night. The quick and piercing eye of De
Ruyter was aware of her, before she had espied us ; and
our cable was cut, and we were again under a crowd of
sail, with the rapidity of thought.

She soon followed us; but she had to work round the dark
coral reef, which lay like a huge alligator ; so that we got
a good start of her, considering there was but a very light
air stirring. We again lightened her by throwing lumber
and ballast overboard ; but De Ruyter, fearing we should
be calmed, set himself to work in seriously preparing
for battle. The sweeps were got out under the hot sun ;
the breeze again died away ; and, at ten^ the frigate, being

128 ADVENTURES OF

about four miles astern, began to prepare her boats. With
what little air there was, and with sweeping, we continued
to drop the frigate ; which she observing, hoisted her
boats out, and we counted seven which shoved off in
pursuit of us.

De Ruyter saw there were no hopes of wind till the
evening ; and in despite of our utmost exertions at the
sweeps, we could not prevent the frigate's boats coming up
with us in three or four hours. His clear brow became over-
cast with thought, and his look anxious, but without fear.

He called me to him, and said, " You see that pre-
cipitous rock, jutting out boldly into the sea, bleached by
the sun and storms to a grayish white, and sapped and
undermined into caverns. There is not a symptom of
vegetation on it, or in its neighbourhood. It stands like
a watch-tower, overlooking the island. You observe, by
the colour and stillness of the water at its base, that it
is profoundly deep on this side ; and you see a long dotted
line, like the floats of a fishing sean, stretching round in
the form of a half crescent ; — that is a low ridge of white
coral, with which the sea, near this island, abounds. Now
I want the grab to be swept round that rock ; but you
must keep her well out, to clear the outermost point ;
therefore place men on the extremity of our bow, and
on the fore-yard, to look out for breakers. There we shall
find a little sandy nook, sheltered from the trade wind that
blows at this time of the year, which can be entered only
in very smooth water, and by no vessel with much greater
beam than ours. All around is so thickly studded with
reefs and rocks, eddies and currents, that no one, im-
perfectly acquainted with its intricacies, would venture to
approach it, even in a calm like this. But with the slight-
est wind stirring, or from the swell left after a breeze, all
about is in commotion, and hazardous even for a life-boat,
for coral cuts like steel. In a moderate gale of wind, such
as I once witnessed in that very place, the most foolhardy
in sea-daring would not venture within leagues of the
shore. The heavy swell, which gets up between this
island and the great bank of Baragos, is tremendous ; the
mountain waves rolling in here are opposed and broken (as

A YOUNGER SON, 129

regular armies are sometimes by guerillas), by those count-
less rocks, whose heads you just see peering above the
water. Then, though impeded and broken, yet not stopped,
the sea is white with rage, and covers half the island with
spray and foam. On this side, there being no impediment,
the roar and dash of the surge drown the loudest thunder.
In the gap leading to that, — it looks no bigger than an
albatross's nest, — ■ we will place the grab athwart, to give
these fellows (who fight for love with more ferocity than
others do in hate) a meeting. With our men I might in-
deed meet them on fairer ground, without dreading the
result ; but the days of chivalry are past ; craft and
cunning are now called the art of war, and a commander is
stigmatised who gives a chance, when he can avoid it.
Besides, I now wish to spare the effusion of blood ; still I
must defend, and will defend the grab against all odds,
even if the frigate herself came alongside of us. The
savage Malays have taught us that death is preferable
to dungeons ; — if all men thought so, there would be
none. What think you, my boy ? "

i( I love fighting, and hate foul air."

" But they are your "

cc I am sorry for it. But bull-dogs, you know, will
fight against their own kind and kin ; and I am no mon-
grel. I '11 show my breed/'

He smiled, and I went to cheer the men at the sweeps,
and place the look-outs, whilst he directed the helmsman.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Death doing in a turban'd masquerade, Keats' MS.

A victory !
* * * * * it will pluck out all grey hairs ;
It is the best physician for the spleen ;
The courtliest inviter to a feast ;
The subtilest excuser of small faults ;
And a nice judge in the age and smack of wine. Ibid.

At two p. m. we were sweeping round the reef, in accord-
ance with De Ruyter's plan. The frigate lay becalmed

K

130 ADVENTURES OF

under the northern extremity of the island. Her boats
were gaining on us fast. When we were embayed amongst
the shoals-, and closed in by the shore to the south, we lost
sight of them all, hidden by a massy abutment of rock,
stretching out in lonely grandeur. We furled all our sails,
took up our position at the inner entrance leading to the
little cove, got halsers from our bow and stern, and made
them fast with some difficulty to the rocks. We mustered
our men ; there were only fifty-four fit to bear arms, and
many untried men amongst them.

All being in readiness, an awful pause took place while
awaiting the boats' weathering the point. Even I, fond of
fighting and reckless as I then was, felt a queer sensation
in this sudden transition of circumstances, finding myself
leagued with dusky Moors in opposition to my fair-haired
countrymen. Then, when one of the boats reappeared,
and we heard their cheering hurrah repeated from boat to
boat, till it died away in echoes on the hollow shore, I felt
my heart beating impetuously against my bosom, and the
cold drops trickling down my burning brow. There was
a stillness in the grab I had never witnessed before ; un-
pleasant thoughts were gathering in my brain ; but they
instantly took flight at the full and clear tones, unem-
barrassed look, and firm step, with which De Ruyter ad-
vanced, saying to his men : — " Come, return them the
Arab war-cry ! You were not wont to be so silent. And
try if that headmost boat is in range of the guns/'

I fired accordingly. " That gun," said he, ci is too
much elevated. I'll try this; — here, bring a match.
Ay, that will do/'

The ball went in a right line, struck the water, bound-
ing like a cricket ball, or, as it is technically termed, rico-
chetting, and passed clean over the headmost boat. She
lay on her oars till it passed, cheering the other boats to
advance. I omitted to mention that, with the first shot,
our French colours were hoisted ; each of their boats had
the Union Jack flying.

On their uniting, we observed them in consultation ; and
then separating into two divisions, they advanced along the
inside of the reef. We kf pt up a steady fire upon them ;

A YOUNGER SON. 131

but nothing daunted, they replied to every gun with a
cheer, and quickened their advance upon us. <e Look, De
Ruyter !" said I, perhaps with some degree of exultation
at their heroic courage, — " one of their boats was struck
with that last shot, and she is sinking ; and see, they have
only left a boat to pick the men up, drowning every mis-
chance with a jovial hurrah, as if they were rejoicing at a
feast !"

His answer was, " Prize money, promotion, and habit
will do much. Now let's give them a volley of cannister.
We must cripple their leaders."

From this period I continued at my station forward ;
most of the Europeans were under my command ; and De
Ruyter having given me his last injunctions, went and re-
mained aft, surrounded by his Arabs, over whom he had
great influence. Another boat, which took the lead, was
swamped; and, whilst they were picking up the men, though
they opened a cross fire from swivels and muskets, their loss
in men was obviously so appalling, that we heard them
hailing each other. Rash as they certainly were, they
were brought to a stand-still, and paused as if hesitating in
what way to advance ; for as to retreat, — the word had
fallen into disuse among men grown presumptuous with
success. The heaviest boat, their launch, with an eighteen-
pound carronade, and crowded with mariners, now came
up with their barge. We heard the order — ee Give way,
my lads ! " — and, under a steady quick fire which did
some small damage on board of us, they dashed on with
redoubled cheers, suffering severely from our commanding
fire, though they were partly sheltered by some points of
rock. They had undergone immense toil; the little air
stirring scorched as that from the mouth of a blast-fur-
nace ; and it was evident they had not anticipated so warm
a reception and unequal a combat. Desperation and their
characteristic gallantry seemed to urge them on. Five of
their little squadron laid us alongside, while the groans of
the dying were mingled with their comrades' loud cheers
and sharp fire.

We now took to our spears and small arms. Some of
the most active, however, soon got up into our chains ;

K 2

132 ADVENTURES OF

and, though frequently repulsed, renewed their endeavours
to get on board. While we were all intent on repelling
them on our exposed side, the barge got across the bow ;
when a breeze and slight swell swinging the grab's bow in-
shore, many threw themselves on our deck from the land
side. This calling us off, small parties boarded us in other
directions.

I saw a Lascar, whom I had before reproved for skulk-
ing behind the mast, attempting to shirk down the hatch-
way. All the hatches were battened down, except the
main one, under which the doctor was to operate. De
Ruyter, fearing some of his Bombay sailors might run
below, had ordered Van Scolpvelt to allow none but the
wounded and powder-boys to go down or up ; adding,
with a smile, " Clip the limbs off, doctor, from any cravens
who desert their quarters ! " to which Van Scolpvelt grin-
ned a pleased assent, and answered, " Never fear, Cap-
tain!" Aware of the evil example of cowardice, and how
rapidly a panic takes place, I instantly shot the Lascar,
who fell down the hatchway on the doctor, who was lug-
ging at his leg.

At this moment I received a wound from a cutlass, and
a pistol was thrust into my mouth with such force as to
cut my lips, though, perhaps from the lock being wet, it
did not take fire. De Ruyter swept the deck with his
Arabs, and called out to me to look out on the starboard
bow. Our opponents never had a shadow of chance in
their favour, though they fought with the most foolhardy
valour. Many of them, severely wounded, still held on
by the rigging, and fought manfully ; and when we had
driven them headlong into the boats or the sea, they strug-
gled to climb up again. Our loss was great in wounded ;
my veins seemed to run with burning lava ; I felt a
thrilling excitement that almost made me mad ; though
slashed and maimed in several parts of my body, I was
totally insensible to pain ; and my men fought, generally,
if not with the same impetuosity, with equal courage.

Two more of the boats were lost by being stove and
swamped alongside. Those of the enemy, who yet re-
mained on board, were sullenly submitting, or rather had

A YOUNGER SON. 133

discontinued their hopeless resistance; one of them ob-
serving, " Damn me, if I strike to a Negur, howsomever
they sarve us ! "

To quiet these fellows' scrupulous delicacy on that score,
I addressed them with, — ei Come, my lads, give up your
arms ; and you shall have what is more use to you now, —
a piece of salt junk, and a glass of stiff grog/'

i( Why," said one to the other, " it's all over, Tom !
And though he ben't rigged, yet he speaks like a Chris-
tian."

Those who remained forward, many of them wounded,
came to me, and gave up their arms,

De Ruyter told me, after the action, that as soon as Van
Scolpvelt had learnt it was I who had inflicted summary
justice on the Lascar, he came on deck, in the thick of the
fight, to complain of my having, in disregard of orders,
unjustifiably robbed him of an excellent patient, on whom
he ardently wished to try some new instrument he had
himself invented, which he held in his hand, and called a
hexagonal, transverse, treble-toothed saw, rapidly revolving
on its own axis, and cutting without pain or splinters. In
vain he was reminded of the necessity of continuing at his
station ; he went on complaining, that, either in contempt
of science, or from a plot, there seemed to be a general
combination on board, a malevolent and wicked design to
blast, destroy, and render abortive all the fondly cherished
hopes of his philanthropic life. De Ruyter insisting on
not being further interrupted, he stood in mournful and
abstracted contemplation of his horrid instrument, when a
sailor, struck by a ball in the heart, was spinning his
death-round near him. Van whipt hold of him, ere he
fell, by the arms, doubled up his body in the form of a Z,
and with miraculous strength trotted off with him, saying,
" If I cannot have a living patient, I will essay my saw on
a dead subject, and that forthwith !"

k 3

134 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Pick'd like a red stag from the fallow herd

Of prisoners. Keats' MS.

The fight was o'er ; the flashing through the gloom,}

Which robes the cannon as he wings a tomb,

Had ceased. Shelley.

We had ordered parties to take possession of their boat
and barge alongside, while a cutter and gig were shoving
off with some of the officers and men, whom we had driven
overboard. At the same time a handful of men, led on by
an officer, seeing his boat seized, cut his way aft to get at
De Ruyter, with whom he seemed determined to try his
hand, or, if compelled, to surrender himself only to the
commander, not to his dusky crew. De Ruyter saw his
purpose, and called out to his men, who were struggling to
oppose him, but who could hardly use their weapons on
account of the dense crowd, (i Stand back, Arabs ! Let
him pass ; but alone ! "

My attention thus arrested, I looked aft, but instead, as
I expected, of seeing him surrender his sword, he at-
tacked De Ruyter with great impetuosity. In bulk and
stature I thought him the most powerful man I had ever
seen. De Ruyter seemed to think he had found his match,
and to be glad of it ;, for his form dilated, and his piercing
and full eye became fixed and contracted. He had a
pistol in his left hand, and a short, slightly curved sword
in his right. He several times ordered his men, who were
pressing on, to hold back, or advance at their peril. The
stranger's common ship's cutlass, made of the worst of
metal, bent like a hoop as it struck the sword-guard of
De Ruyter, who stood alone on the defensive. At this
critical juncture, the cook, a Madagascar black, was in the
act of plunging his long knife into the stranger's side. De
Ruyter shifted his position, and pistolled the fellow ; and
said to the stranger, — " Come, lieutenant, you have done
every thing the bravest could, and it is too hot to be thrust-
ing carte and tierce. You forget you are amongst old

A YOUNGER SON. 135

friends here. The game of fighting has been long up ;
chance has decided for us. Come, cast away that worth-
less weapon."

I then went aft, and said, iC What ! Aston ! "

He threw his sword on the deck, and gazed on me with
wonder. As soon as he could recognise me through my
coating of blood, powder, and sweat, " Ha ! " said he, te I
see it all ! The well-known De Ruyter, that was De
Witt, the plodding merchant at Bombay, — and — "
(looking at me) " and — you V

He looked half reproachfully as he continued, " Well,
it is strange ! And with two such fellows, and a crew
composed of the same stuff, what chance had we ? Then^
to attempt to take you in such a position as this, to sa-
crifice the finest fellows in our ship in such a wild-goose
venture, it was folly or madness, I know not which to call
it!"

Some of the frigate's men were still endeavouring to
escape ; and two of the boats, which had, in the confusion,
shoved off, were now attempting to retake a third boat
from some of our men, who had possession of her, when
a desultory fire was kept up. De Ruyter was waxing
wrathful, and came up to Aston with a hurried step, saying,
" Sir, I entreat you — speak to your men ! If they are
to expect the usages of war, let them desist from useless
efforts at further opposition. It is mere wantonness, and
I can no longer control my people, if yours are per-
mitted, after they have struck their flag, to attempt to re-
gain their boats. My only wish is to spare a greater
effusion of blood."

Aston sprung forward, commanded the men, struggling
in the barge, to desist, and come on board, and those on
board to go below. <c As for those boats already shoved
off," he said, <( they must take their chance."

" Let them ! " replied De Ruyter, Ci I shall not impede
their flight. 1 do not want boats or prisoners. Never-
theless I must do my duty in keeping those I have got,
though I am sorry to have them. It is the most un-
profitable victory I ever gained. I have lost some of my
best men, and the services of others that are wounded-"
k 4

136

ADVENTURES OF

" Continued success/' observed Aston, " makes us
perhaps too confident, and this is the result."

iC No," said De Ruyter, " it is that confidence which
insures your success in almost all you undertake. All
nations have had their turn : while they thought them-
selves invulnerable, they were so ; when they began to
doubt it, no longer were they victorious. People become
what they believe they are. The flags of Europe are
faded, old, and rent, successively decaying. Those stars
and stripes" (pointing to an American flag covering the
hatchway) ei must, — it is their station, — soar aloft !
But," (turning to me) " show your friend below, and
make him welcome. There is much to be done. Yet
what ? holla ! what is the matter ? Why, you denied
being wounded ! "

From toil, exhaustion, and loss of blood, I dropped so
suddenly on the deck, as if shot, that De Ruyter could
not catch me, though he contrived to break my fall.

Van Scolpvelt had been some time on deck, looking over
and summing up, with satisfaction, his rich harvest of
patients. He viewed, with a malignant glance, an as-
sistant surgeon, who had accompained Aston in his boat,
and was bandaging a wound on the lieutenant's leg, having
obtained De Ruyter's sanction to attend exclusively on his
own wounded, which were by far the more numerous.
These were by no means prepossessed in favour of Van
Scolpvelt; on* the contrary, as. he was busily scanning
amongst them for a case of amputation, in order to make
a trial of his newly invented instrument, its horrid appear-
ance, in such hands, made the stout hearts of these hardy
sailors quaih I heard one of them say, " Tom, here 's an
Indian devil of a cannibal going to cast off our head-
matting," (that is, scalp us,) (e cut us up into junk, and
sarve us out> like so much salt pork, to the ship's messes I"

cs 111 be damned/' replied the other, " if old Nick
brings his fork here to ship me into the harness cask, I'll
sarve him out with a long spoon ! " At the same time he
picked up one of the shot-ladles.

The offended amputator complained of this mutinous
conduct to De Ruyter, just before I fainted ; and then

A YOUNGER SON. 137

said, leaning over me, u I thought how it would be ! He
laughed when I offered to dress the contusion on his face ;
but he won't laugh now ! " (taking out his case of instru-
ments.) (i Yes ! he knows better than the doctor ! I
would sooner smoke my meershaum in the powder-ma-
gazine than have him to cure ; for he is self-willed and
obstinate as the she -kind are. He killed my patient, too !
Could he not have left the man to me ? So fond of shoot-
ing people, this is a judgment on him ! But for him, I
should have had the best case ! "

During this soliloquy, which Aston repeated to me,
they carried me into the cabin, where Scolpveit loosened
my shawl-sash, and, on taking off my stained shirt, found
two other wounds, one from a ball through the small
part of my arm, the other a contusion on my side, from
the butt end of a musket. " A judgment," he continued,
"for the most atrocious of crimes — deceiving his surgeon!
He would not learn how to put on a tourniquet either ;
what foolish and irrational people the English are ! I
don't doubt but that he would rather lose his life than
his obstinacy. To cheat and rob his doctor of a pa-ti-e-n-t ! "
(here he was scooping about, and shoving tow into the
wound), " Oh, ho ! he don't like that ! I thought he
had no feeling."

Aston told me I was roused into motion by his ap-
plications ; then, being called on by a dozen different
messengers, he hastily dressed and bound up my wounds,
and went to attend on his numerous patients.

CHAPTER XXXV.

In stern reproach demanded where

Was now his grateful sense of former care ?

Where all his hopes to see his name aspire

And blazon Briton's thousand glories higher?'

His feverish lips thus broke the gloomy spell. Byron.

On recovering my senses, I found Aston stooping over
me, sponging my face and breast with vinegar and water

138 ADVENTURES OF

It was some time before I understood where I was ; for
Aston's face reminded me of my drowning frolic. " 1 have
been dreaming/' I said ; u is that Aston ? where am
I ? "

e< Where I am sorry to find you. Under any flag but
this, I could have forgiven you ! "

This recalled my flitting remembrances together, and
I said, ee You will allow I had cause to be disgusted with
the former. Now I fight under De Ruyter. Show me a
braver man, and 111 leave him ; but there is none braver
or nobler."

" Ay, he is well known for a gallant fellow, and I
have found him so ; but that is not to the purpose."

" Well, Aston, you know how I was situated; what better
could I do ? What, in my case, would you have done ? "

He thought a moment, and taking my hand, said
kindly, " By Heaven, I believe the same ! " But then added,
ec when I was at your age."

" Ah ! if you knew him as well as I do, you might go
farther, and say at any age. I know I would ; so let 's
say no more about it. I want to know how things are
going on upon deck. It seems a daik night, and we 're in
a devilish queer place. What i is that surf breaking
against us ? "

" No, against the rocks. Who would have ventured in
such an anchorage as this but De Ruyter ? I see his ob-
ject,— to prevent our ship's getting alongside of him. It
is wonderful! I should as soon have thought of anchoring
on the sand-heads in a tifrbon.,,

" Rest satisfied ; he knows what he is at. ' Tis not
the first time he has lain here ; he told me so. But come,
boy, hand out the grub and grog. I must supply the loss
of this red liquor ; I am dry as a sponge. What the devil
has old Scolpvelt been at with my side ? I feel the print
of his cursed talons festering in my -flesh. That fellow is
ready made for chief torturer in hell. I wish, Aston, you
would let your doctor overhaul me, for Van has spoiled
my appetite."

Aston sent for him, and said : "That doctor of yours

A YOUNGER SON. 139

has certainly an extraordinary look. I can 't say I like
the cut of his jib."

cc Not half so bad as the feel of his paws ; they burn
like bluestone."

Aston's surgeon now came down. As doctors never
openly censure individuals of their tribe,, except by direct
implication — that is, by always undoing what another
has done — so did he. Some soothing liniment was ap-
plied, and the accursed tow plugs were removed ; which
gave me as much relief as drawing a splinter out of a
wound, in which it had been long rankling. Thus eased,
I resumed my talk with Aston, shook hands with him,
asked him about our old ship, and why he had quitted
her ; for I knew she was not the one which had chased
us.

He told me a friend of his had just come out in com-
mand of the present frigate, and had got him appointed as
first lieutenant. Having received intelligence of two
French frigates, they had gone in all haste to report the
same to the admiral at Madras ; and he had ordered them,
and another frigate, to go and look after, and by no means
lose sight of the Frenchmen. They had discovered them "
lying in Fort Louis, which they had been some days
blockading. " Besides that," said he, ec we had intelli-
gence that De Ruyter was out in his corvette ; with or-
ders to endeavour to cut him off in his return to port.
Not the smallest idea had we of finding him here in the
grab. We all mistook him for an Arab. I thought I had
seen her somewhere, forgetting it was at Bombay. But
then, I had not the slightest reason to suppose De Ruyter
had any concern with her, or even De Witt ; much less
that they were one and the same person. He has done
more harm to the Company's trade than all the French
men-of-war together; and his head is worth a frigate's
ransom. It is wonderful how long he has kept clear of
the traps set for him, clever as he is."

De Ruyter having made his arrangements on deck, came
down, shook Aston by the hand, and said, " This mis-
chance of your falling into our hands will no be great evil.

140

ADVENTURES OP

You can better afford it than I, What mercy should I
have if the merchant inquisitors had me in their gripe ?
I would rather feel the elephant's knee, when in wrath, on
my breast."

He then added : ec To put you as much at ease as cir-
cumstances will allow, I have only to say that I leave the
disposition of your men to your judgment, satisfied with
your word of honour. How many men had you in the
boats ?"

sc With officers and marines, sixty or more."

<c Well, while your ship is in the neighbourhood, your
men may be impatient and troublesome. She will be off
here in the morning, and you may send the doctor on
board with the badly wounded ; they will be better at-
tended to there, for we are lumbered up here, and alto-
gether unprepared for such unexpected guests. I had no
idea of any of your cruisers being off here. If you have
any letters to write, get them ready."

He returned on deck, Aston wrote, and I slept till the
ensuing morning. I was then well enough, with a stick
to scramble on deck. A look-out, whom we had placed
on a point of rock on shore, gave us notice of the frigate's
motions. Soon after day -break she stood in as far as she
could with safety, to where we lay, with a top-gallant
breeze. We sent our long boat on board her with a flag
of truce, the wounded, under the care of the surgeon, and
with letters from Aston.

The captain of the frigate returned his thanks, but
promised, notwithstanding De Ruyter's gentlemanly and
humane conduct, to rout him out of his lurking-place.

To this effect every expedient was used. But De Ruy-
ter knew, by the signal made to the other frigate, that she
was on no account to quit the blockade of Port Louis.
She having lost her boats, could do nothing, it being im-
possible for her to get within gunshot of the grab. Her
only chance was in blockading him ; but on account of the
frequent storms prevalent at that time of the year, she
could not do that effectually ; so that De Ruyter felt little
uneasiness. (i As to the rest," said he, " I shall sleep
better, and eat better, with a slight excitement to help my

A YOUNGER SON. 141

digestion, and keep that portion of my blood which is
Dutch, from stagnating."

To avoid tediousness, should I have been hitherto for-
tunate enough to shun that rock on which so many have
wrecked themselves, I shall borrow an extract from De
Rutyer's abrupt and succinct journal : —

' ' Ten p. m. dark and cloudy ; lightning ; heavy show-
ers of rain ; got under weigh ; warped out from our
anchorage ; wind fresh from the land ; aided by the
lightning, kept clear of the breakers ; at one a. m. made
sail ; turned to windward of the island, which had been
our refuge."

This was on the third day after our action with the
boats. We stretched over to Diego Garcia, and got out
of the track of the frigates, having my friend Aston, and
twenty-six of his men, on board.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

There's nought., no doubt, so much the spirit calms,
As rum and true religion. Byroic,

De Ruyter was willing to emancipate Aston, but the
latter would not hear of it. He said he disdained to evade
the natural and merited consequences of failure in his at-
tempt. Had he been successful, he hoped he should have
wished to be generous as De Ruyter; but his power would
have been limited. Consequently, now that the reverse had
happened, he readily submitted to the usages of war : en-
treating De Ruyter not to hazard his own reputation, and
the allegiance he owed to the sovereign under whose flag
he was fighting, by stretching his power to save him from,
he trusted, a short incarceration, however severe ; — short,
because, as there were so many French prisoners in India,
an exchange would readily be effected.

<: It shall be as you think best/' said De Ruyter, "Only

142 ADVENTURES OF

be sure of this : I have power enough at least to promise
you that, if the name of prisoner does not gall your pa-
tience, you shall not feel any of its indignities. If I
thought otherwise, you should be none, where I command.
My allegiance is of ink, not of blood; — I owe the French-
men none. Our compact is (as all should be, if intended to
endure) one of mutual interest; which ceasing, either
party would break it without an instant's hesitation. The
scum that the French revolution has boiled up, domineers
at the Isle of France, a Botany Bay, to which France
transports her lawless felons. There they are frivolous,
fickle, and violent as the monsoon gales in Port Louis,
where the wind blows from every quarter of the compass
between sunrise and sunset. But they dare not trifle with
me. I say, dare not ; for, with all their trumpet- tongued
vaunting, they are neither brave nor noble at heart. Their
courage is but lip-deep, their rage but as a hurricane in
petticoats. They will hate you, because you are brave,
and have so often plucked their borrowed plumes, exhibit-
ing them in their naked gull-like form ; or they will hate
you, because you are taller, have a better coat, or beard,
or button. They are envious, malicious, cruel, and das-
tardly, as in the mowing and chattering tribe of Mada-
gascar monkeys ; noisy and filthy as the draggletailed
dysenteric cockatoo ; vain, conceited, libidinous, and bestial
as the ourang-outang of Borneo."

Aston looked in amaze, and I laughed at this tirade.

He continued : " I tell you this, because I wish you to
understand I am serving not them but myself. I despise
them as a nation, though there are a few redeeming charac-
ters among them. With all their vaunted civilisation they
would treat you with indignity. So seldom have they an
opportunity of heaving up their accumulated bile on an
English prisoner, they would play all sorts of fantastic
tricks on you. But they shall not. Let them choke with
their own venom, ere I permit an Englishman, and my
prisoner, to be even looked at with contempt. So now we
understand each other. Come, my lads, let us see what
shot remains in the locker. I am afraid our cookery and
crockery have suffered since these rude visiters boarded us.

A YOUNGER SON. 143

But this cool and cloudy weather does not need the aid of
shaddock-biters to sharpen the edge of appetite. Go
down ; — I '11 just give a look round and follow you."

As we went down I called out for our steward, Louis,
telling him we were hungry as hyenas. ec Yet who the
devil," said I, " can masticate the dry junk and rotten salt
fish on the table ? Come, old boy, fork out something
better than this ; or I shall be obliged to make a devil of
Van Scolp, and grill him."

Louis replied, u He once in, you never eat more. I ra-
ther eat a horse's hoof."

Scolpvelt himself then came down the ladder to look at
my wounds. " No, no, old Van," I said, " no caustic
plugs for me ! Sit down, and fill out some of the loose
skin hanging about you, like a shrivelled tarpaulin."

u What !" he exclaimed, " you must not eat ! I have
ordered the boy to make you some congee."

" Curse your rice-water ! Go, Louis, go up to the cook,
and tell him to grill us a couple of fowls, with a piece of
pork. I want something solid."

Van would have countermanded this, had I not clapped
my hand as a stopper on his jaw-tackle. Then pouring a
bottle of Madeira into a slop basin, I was about to empty
it down my throat, but he struggled hard against me, de-
claring I should not, while his patient, commit suicide, and
stigmatise his system. He called his boy, and told him
to bring a bottle of his concentrated lemon juice. " Unless
you drink congee gruel," said he, feeling my pulse, f* the
lemon, with your febrile symptoms, is your only fluid. It
is the fruit of the citrus, of the class, polyadelphia, order,
icosandria. It is the chief ingredient in citric acid, valu-
able for pharmaceutic uses on shore, and would be a thou-
sand times of more use on ship-board, where it is never to
be had. But I, — I, Van Scolpvelt^ have long been la-
bouring to make it applicable by condensatione Hitherto,
among the chemists, it has shown symptoms of decomposi-
tion. But by the aid of a valuable old manuscript of mine,
written by the learned Winschotan, the preceptor of the
immortal Boerhaave, bearing date 1673, together with some
small additions of my own, I have at last succeeded in

1 44 ADVENTURES OF

preserving it in the concrete form. It- is now sixteen months
old ; and you shall see it better and fresher than when
plucked from the tree. Here, boy, give it me !"

As he turned to the boy, he forgot the Madeira, which
I swallowed at a draught. He gave me one look, put the
concrete essence in his pocket, hastened on deck, and told
De Ruyter he washed his hands of me, that he had not
been accustomed to attend mad people, and recommended a
strait waistcoat.

After supper Louis handed out a dusty-looking stone
bottle of the right bamboo- coloured skedam. We satisfied
ourselves it had the true zest, or, according to Louis's dainty
observation, it had the taste and colour of flame, mellowed
with smoke of the juniper tree.

" Come, Louis, devil us a biscuit. You are the only
useful man on board — no one can equal your curried devil.
It will bring out the oily and delicious odour of the juni-
per smoke."

As Louis toddled on deck, Aston inquired, cc What is
Louis ? He seems every thing here — purser, steward,
clerk — and now you are adding cook to his other voca-
tions."

" He is, in fact," I answered, " a double man — Dutch
stock crossed by a Frenchman — a nondescript fellow, born
at the Mauritius. He unites the characteristics of the two
nations — the portentous belly and square beam of the
Hollander, with the wiry arms and legs of the Frenchman,
like a hogshead of skedam on stilts. His face is a ludi-
crous compound of both parents ; full and round as the
pumpkin, and rubicund withal, with a Gallic nose, like a
ripe red fig, the stalk uppermost, a mouth from ear to ear
like the bat's, and heavy, flabby, moist lips, which, when
gathered up in talk, display a long double row of ebonies,
similar to the piles at the entrance of a Dutch dike or
canal, and, like that, ever ready to receive whatever is
offered. His natural chin is ridiculously short, but, like
his stomach, of a prolific nature, for it has shaken three
reefs out — a mass of fat stuck on a thorough- bred French
neck, long, bony, and arched out in the dromedary fashion.
His head seems formed for nothing but a golden crown, as

A YOUNGER SON. 145

no covering with less ballast can stay on it in a breeze of
wind, and, indeed, he goes by the name of Louis le Grand.
Here he comes — look at him, and say if I have exagger-
ated."

When the devil and grilled fowls were placed on the
table, I bade Louis come to an anchor on the locker, and
explain to Aston how he came to be promoted to the office
of purser.

fs Vy, sir, de last purser die."

tc Come, I know that ; but how did he die ?"

He then commenced a history in his broken English,
showing how the late purser, in his too great love of eco-
nomy, was about to put on the cabin- table the leather- like
rind of a dry, over-salted, Dutch cheese ; how he, Louis,
objected to it as uneatable ; how the other abused him for
growing dainty and wasteful, affirming that the cheese was
a good cheese ; how to convict Louis, whom he called an
obstinate half-bred Dutch hog, he splintered off a ragged
fragment, and attempted to bolt it ; how it stuck in his
throat like the horns of a goat when swallowed whole by a
boa ; how Scolpvelt was on shore ; and how Louis, as a
kind friend, smacked the poor purser on his back till he
died, and then stepped into his shoes.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Few things surpass old wine, and they may preach

Who please, the more because they preach in vain ;

Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter,

Sermons and soda-water the day after. Btrcn.

We all laughed at Louis, though there was no one on
board that did not feel indebted to him for his good ser-
vices. He was indefatigably industrious, and, having a
stomach himself like a chronometer, he never missed
the hour of serving out the rations ; besides, he was scru-
pulously honest in weight and measure. Under the abun-

L

146

ADVENTURES OF

dant and well- organised system of this conscientious purser,
we rarely had cause to complain ; and he used to pride
himself on the crew's increase of power and weight since
his appointment : the only exception, which gave him in-
finite pain, was Van Scolpvelt, He said, Ci I believe he
de devil ! He live on physic and smoke — he smoke all
day and night — eat noting — sleep noting ! — he must be
de devil or noting ! Is he not ? "

While conversing on the admirable purveyorship of
Louis, De Ruyter joined us, and spoke highly in his fa-
vour. <e Nothing/' said he, " is of such importance in a
commander as feeding his men well. Sailors are really
very little eaters ; but if they are stinted, they are ungovern-
able and savage as beasts of prey, which, even lions, when
surfeited, are innoxious. Your fleet," turning to Aston,
<£ once mutinied ; — men that never rebelled before took
your wooden walls from you, because you stinted them in
provisions, when the united riches of the world could not
have seduced them from their duty. Your soldiers, too,
break through all discipline, and cease to be soldiers, when
deprived of their rations. With us, who only hold our
command by the suffrages of those under us, nothing puts
our rule in such jeopardy as when Surrounded by half-
starved men. Hunger is deaf to reason, to fear, and to
the iron curb of habit. The only thing requisite on board
a ship is to prevent waste and drunkenness, — which last
is, in its effects, akin to hunger. Come, old Louis, let us
have another flash of the liquid lightning, for good cheer
is as necessary as a good compass on board a ship ; and
then, as our fellows have had hard work, go on deck, and
splice the main brace. You have corrupted our men's or-
thodoxy; your eloquence has overcome their scruples re-
garding gin : — so easy is it to make converts on a point of
faith tallying with our desires ! This Louis has persuaded
my Mussulman crew that gin was not, and is not, forbidden
by Mahomet ; on the contrary, he interdicted wine, in
order that nothing but gin might be drunk in the world,
in compliance to a miraculous vision, wherein an angel
presented him with a stone-bottle full, brought as a sample
from Heaven, — or Holland ! '*

A YOUNGER SON. 147

Louis went on deck, and presently returned to tell us
there was a blue shark in our wake, reminding us at the
same time that our fresh provisions were exhausted. Then,
as he hauled a shark-hook out of the locker, he said, " I
go catch him. He very good to eat, in de vay I cook
him."

At this we all turned up, and having baited the hook
with a fowl's entrails, the greedy monster hardly let it
touch the water, ere he darted on, turned quickly round,
and without benison or grace, gulped the garbage, regard-
less of the barbed iron. We soon succeeded in hauling
him on deck ; he was a gigantic one ; and, notwithstanding
the remains of a sailor's jacket was found within him,
Louis instantly employed his knife, and a plentiful dish of
cutlets was carved out of his sirloin.

This wiled away the evening. The watch was set.
De Ruyter went to pore over his volume of Shakspeare ;
and I leant over the hammock nettings, ruminating on the
past, the present, and marvelling at what was to come.

Henceforth every thing went on pleasantly and merrily ;
or if interrupted by untoward occurrences, such as are in-
separable from a sea-life, where men are huddled up like
herrings in a barrel, and will sometimes ferment, still they
passed over as the summer clouds, leaving the sky yet
clearer than before. Time lagged not on board the grab.
I was associated with the two men I most admired and
loved. I wanted but Waiter ; — and then if a deluge had
swallowed up all the world, and the grab had been our ark,
I should have lost nothing to weep for, so narrow and sel-
fish were my views in this my dawn of life. Those I
loved were all the world to me ; to all else I wTas totally
indifferent. My affections were germinating, yet unex-
panded. My passions and feelings were in embryo, except
those awakened into being by Aston and De Ruyter. They
were, in fact, alike ; though, from education and country,
habits had so grown on them, and encrusted them, that,
to a casual observer, no two men could seem more dissimilar.
But at the core they were the same, they had the same
stability of character, heroic courage, gentle and affectionate
l 2

148 ADVENTURES OF

manners, and open manly bearing. They soon grew fast
friends.

Sailors consider the sea as their country, and all true
bred sons of Neptune as their foster-brothers. National
prejudices are washed and rubbed off by the elements. In
a ship intimacies are formed in an hour, which would re-
quire years on shore ; and what is never done on land is
freely done at sea, when shipmates share purses, and give
more frankly than the nearest of kin lend, — a word not
in the vocabulary of a sailor. Sea air ripens friendship
quicker than the hot-bed of a city. Good fellowship, sin-
cerity, and generosity seem to have flown for refuge to the
ocean.

After a few days, we descried a strange sail to the west-
ward. She bore down on us, and we, finding we outran
her, shortened sail, till she came near enough for us to
make her out. De Ruyter then knew her to be a French
corvette. We hoisted a private signal, which they an-
swered. We hove to. At sunset she came under our
quarters ; and after some conversation with the captain,
De Ruyter went on board, where he had a long conference.
On his return we altered our course for the island of
Madagascar.

Several of our wounded died. Not having sufficient
room for our prisoners, De Ruyter, first consulting Aston,
and being well acquainted with the French commander,
who was a humane and honourable man, removed them,
under the direction of one of their own midshipmen, and
a marine lieutenant, to the corvette, with the exception of
Aston, and four of the men, who entreated permission to
remain with their officer. This permission, through my
intercession, was easily obtained.

A YOUNGER SON. 149

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Afric is all the sun's, and, as her earth,
Her human clay is kindled ; full of power
For good or evil ; burning from its birth,
The Moorish blood partakes the planet's hour,
And like the soil beneath it will bring forth. Byron.

We then understood from De Ruyter that the corvette
had been sent to examine into an act of piracy, committed,
it was supposed, by the Maratti, a formidable nest of bri-
gands, on the north point of the island of Madagascar.
The Portuguese and French had several times attempted
to settle there, but had always been compelled to abandon
the place with great loss, the natives having harassed
them unceasingly, day and night; till at last they de-
clared the climate to be pernicious, and the settlement of
no use, and they decamped (that is, those who could)
with such precipitation, that they left the buildings they
had erected, and some temporary fortifications, to be occu-
pied by the Maratti, together with other lawless bands.

These Maratti, an ancient horde of pirates, formerly
dwelt on the east side of Madagascar, where they became
a terror to the early settlers in the neighbouring islands ;
especially by their junction with the pirates of Nossi
Ibrahim, afterwards called St. Mary's. They cut off the
supplies of cattle and provisions furnished by Madagascar;
and even landed, burned, and slaughtered the inhabitants
of the Mauritius and the island of Bourbon. The Dutch,
then in possession of the Mauritius, were so straitened for
provisions, and tormented by these hornets, that eventually
they were compelled to abandon the island. Like the
Portuguese, they too had their ready excuse, and pleaded
locusts and rats as the cause of their abandonment ; but
there are, as old Shy lock says, i£ land-rats and water-rats '"
and these last were the rats who drove out the Dutch.
They retired to the Cape of Good Hope, where they found
the brute-like Hottentot a far less noxious animal than the
water-rats — Pirates, I mean.

The French settled in the island of Bourbon, close at
l 3

150 ADVENTURES OF

hand, instantly took advantage of this ; and, like the
cuckoo, took possession of the Dutchman's nest ere it grew
cool. Port Louis was then a miserable hamlet; for the
Dutch love mud and wood, of which, as elsewhere, their
dwellings were exclusively composed.

Soon after, the French, Portuguese, and Dutch com-
panies formed an armament to exterminate the Maratti,
who committed great havock on their trade. They attacked
the pirates in their strongholds of Nossi Ibrahim and
other posts, and, with immense loss on their part, de-
stroyed a great portion of their war-canoes, and drove the
pirates for refuge to the hills of Nossi Ibrahim, and the
mountains of Madagascar.

Now the Maratti, after driving off, or rather doing as
they had been done by, — exterminating a French settle-
ment which the company had planted in the bay of
Antongil, had re-established themselves on the coast of Ma-
dagascar, near Cape St. Sebastian, where they grew formid-
able in numbers. They were encouraged by the natives,
who found them a less nuisance than the Europeans, who
plundered their coast, and massacred them, whenever they
wanted a salad or a fresh egg. Here the Maratti, hardy
and desperate, became adventurous from success, having
defeated several attempts to suppress them ; and they were
widely spreading the circle of devastation. By their rob*
beries on the Indian seas, they had already depopulated
the Comoro, Mayotta, Mohilla, and other islands in their
vicinity, by seizing the inhabitants, and selling them to the
European slave-merchants ; though, prior to their expul-
sion from Nossi Ibrahim, they never could be induced to
enter into the slave trade. So abhorrent was it to them at
that period, that they invariably massacred the crew of
every vessel they found carrying on this loathsome traffic,
to which their own, as pirates, was comparatively just and
honourable. This was the principal cause of the com-
bination among the European merchant companies, to an-
nihilate them, as unchristian barbarians, without light
enough to see their own interest. At St. Sebastian (I
suppose the patron saint of slaves), they speedily gave in-
dications of being less heathenishly inclined; for there

A YOUNGER SON. 151

they entered, with true Christian zeal, into all the ramifica-
tions of slave-dealing, and monopolised that trade in the
East, with the same system of exclusiveness as the Dutch
had methodised for spice, and the English for tea. They
learned statistics, mapped the islands, counted their popu-
lation, divided them into districts, calculated their power
of breeding, and every spring and autumn sent out a fleet
of proas, visiting the different islands in rotation. They
considerately refrained from pouncing on the same island
for three or four, or sometimes more years. The young
and able-bodied were selected, from the age of ten to
twenty- five, marked with a hot iron and black powder,
and carried to St. Sebastian, where they remained till an
occasion offered for disposing of them to the French,
Dutch, Portuguese, or English*

The Maratti learnt another lesson from the Europeans :
they left no means untried to foment disunion and hatred
among the natives of Madagascar, and enlightened them as
to the advantage of selling their prisoners through them,
out of which they deducted a very pretty interest, in the
way of dustoory. As long as they restricted themselves to
kidnapping and selling slaves, however obtained, whether
from their own kin and kind, whether they were sons sold
by fathers, or brothers and sisters by the first born, all
was fair and honest traffic. But a French schooner, hav-
ing plundered a village of sheep and poultry, and beaten
the inhabitants, was pursued by the Maratti in their war-
canoes, boarded, taken, and, ere the French had time to
cut the throats of the sheep, they themselves were slaugh-
tered, and the innocent sheep released, and restored to
their pasture. The representatives of the grand nation at
the Mauritius were struck with horror at this daring
atrocity: and, if unatoned for by an ample massacre, their
honour would be compromised. A total extermination of
the natives of Madagascar was first contemplated. These
ideas of severity were, however, mitigated, owing to the
unlucky circumstance of their only disposable force, two
frigates, being blockaded in the port by two much smaller
English frigates, or, generally, by no more than one. At
last a corvette arrived in the port, to windward of the
l 4

152 ADVENTURES OF

island, and she was sent with ample orders, but with very
limited means,, to execute them. This was the vessel we
fell in with.

The commander, a young man of engaging manners,
the next morning came on board, rejoiced at the opportu-
nity of getting information from De Ruyter. He used
every argument to induce him to join the expedition ; and
insisted on his dining on board the corvette, with Aston
and myself, at four, by which time De Ruyter promised to
give a final answer.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

How speed the outlaws ? Stand they well prepared

Their pluncler'd wealth, and robber rock to guard ?

Dream they of this our preparation, doom'd

To view with fire their scorpion's nest consumed ? Byron.

That evening De Ruyter told the French commander
that he had only one difficulty to get over, and, if that
could be mastered, it would please him well to keep com-
pany with him till the blockade of Port Louis was raised.
(C But," said he, " you must be aware that, with our force,
we can literally do nothing ; unless, perhaps, to ascertain
who the pirates were, wherefore they had attacked the
French flag, and whether the schooner had given cause
for that attack. For," he added, u I am sorry to say we
are somewhat too hasty, overbearing, and unjust in our
dealings with the natives of these islands. Therefore let
us first discover who were the aggressors, and then we may
find a time to punish them."

The captain replied he had boarded several vessels,
which had been recently plundered by the long war-canoes
of St. Sebastian.

(l I doubt little/' said De Ruyter, " of their being the
Maratti. But you know they seldom go to sea, unless in
the south-west monsoon ; and what can we do against
their numbers ? "

A fOUNGER SOX. 153

To this the captain answered, " From every thing I
hear they are now out ; but where, I cannot learn. We
must first think of your despatches ; and I believe we
shall not be long without an opportunity of sending them ;
for I expect every day to fall in with some of our cattle-
boats/'

From this time we continued in company. The wea-
ther being particularly fine, with little wind stirring, we
passed our time very pleasantly, in giving parties alter-
nately on board the corvette and the grab. Aston, who
had been a prisoner in France when a midshipman, spoke
French as perfectly as De Ruyter. At daylight we used
to separate, and keep a look-out to windward ; and to-
wards sunset we bore down, and remained together during
the night. The first vessel we fell in with was a schooner,
which, after a long chase, we made out to be an American.
As soon as she discovered we were French, she hove to.
She was a beautiful vessel, long, low in the water, with
lofty raking masts, which tapered away till they were
almost too fine to be distinguished, and the swallow- tailed
vanes above fluttered like fire -flies. The starred flag
waved over her taffrail. As she filled and hauled on a
wind, to cross under our stem, with a fresh breeze to which
she gently heeled, I thought there was nothing so beau-
tiful as the arrowy sharpness of her bow, and the
gradually receding fineness of her quarters. She looked
and moved like an Arab horse on the desert, and was as
obedient to command. There was a lightness and bird-
like buoyancy about her, that exclusively belong to this
class of vessels. America has the merit of having per-
fected this nautical wonder, as far surpassing all other
vessels in exqusiite proportion and beauty, as the gazelle
excels all animated nature. Even to this day no other
country has succeeded in either the building or the
working of these vessels, in comparison with America.

A light and fairy-looking boat, akin to the Nautilus,
was now launched over the gunwale. It appeared a
marvel how she could support the four herculean mariners
that jumped into her. Two or three strokes of her long
wooden fins brought her instantly alongside of us, and De

154 ADVENTURES OF

Ruyter was overjoyed at meeting with his countrymen ;
for though his father was .Dutch, he was a naturalised
American, and he had known no other home. He wrung
the captain of the schooner by the hand, talked of
nothing but Boston, his birthplace, and the port whence
the schooner had last sailed. She had touched at St.
Malo's, and was bound to the Mauritius.

This was one of the fast-sailing schooners, which drove
what was called a forced trade for drugs and spices.
They were principally Americans, selected for their match-
less sailing. After leaving America, they touched at some
French port, got French papers, and sometimes had com-
missions and lettres de marques. They were armed and
well manned ; and all on board being allowed a portion
of the profits on the freightage, they were interested in
its success. The/ had a nominal French captain, a mere
cipher, but necessary, as America was then at peace with
England.

This schooner had a cargo, to my mind richer than
gold, of cognac, claret, sauterne, and a variety of European
luxuries ; which, when she had discharged at the Mau-
ritius, were to be exchanged for spices. She had run
the gauntlet through the English squadron in the Bay of
Biscay, and at the Cape of Good Hope ; and had we not
given her information of the blockade at the Mauritius, she
would have run another risk of being captured. De
Ruyter advised her to put into a port to windward of the
Mauritius, gave our despatches, and wrote some letters.
She, in return, let us have a pipe of claret, a hogshead of
cognac, and good store of edibles.

The corvette now coming up, we separated from the
American, and kept our course for St. Sebastian. Soon
after we fell in with, and boarded some Arab trading-
vessels. They had been plundered : the greater part of
their cargoes and crews were taken out, leaving merely a
few old men to work the vessels, with a little water and
rice. This was committed by a fleet of eighteen Maratti
proas, each having from eighteen to forty men on board.
It appeared that this fleet was bound to some of the
islands in the Mosambique channel.

A YOUNGER SON. 155

De Ruyter now conferred with the French commander;
and his advice was that we should, in the absence of the
greatest part of the pirates, effect a landing at St. Sebastian,
surprise them during the night, plunder and destroy their
fortifications, burn their town, and rescue their prisoners ;
for doubtless they were loaded there, as they had kept
possession of two of the largest of the Arab traders. This
was agreed to ; and the corvette supplied us with two of
her brass guns, and lent us fifteen of her soldiers.

Without any thing particular happening, we got into
1 5° 20' south latitude, ran on till we saw the high land of
Madagascar, and kept to the north-east side of the island,
till we had run well in-shore ; when we sent a boat, and
brought off some fishermen, who gave us information. We
then crept round the land, to the north, at night, De
Ruyter piloting, being in sight of the north point of Cape
St. Sebastian, which stretches far out to sea, in the form of
an estuary. Taking advantage of the twilight, De Ruyter
piloted us through a narrow channel in the recess ; and,
before midnight, we brought to as close to the rocks as we
could on the east side, having the cape between us and the
town, by which means we were unobserved.

It was a cloudy night, with frequent showers of rain.
We got out our boats, and landed a hundred and twenty
officers and men well armed : eighty from the corvette,
and forty from the grab. To do the Frenchman justice, he
felt no envy of De Ruyter's superior knowledge ; on the
contrary, he insisted on his taking the command, and gave
his officers orders to implicitly obey De Ruyter in every
particular, he himself staying on board the corvette.

On landing, De Ruyter divided the men into three
parties, retaining to himself and the first officer the strong-
est, consisting of fifty men, armed with muskets and
bayonets; a French lieutenant commanded thirty-five, and
I thirty. I had a part of De Ruyter's favourite band of
Arabs, armed with their lances and short carbines. We
kept on together, till we got round the cape ; then De
Ruyter ordered me to ascend the rocks, and keep round the
hill, nearly at the foot of which the pirates' town was
situated, till I arrived immediately above it. The lieu-

156 ADVENTURES OF

tenant was directed to keep along the beach, till he was in
a line with me ; while De Ruyter, with the main body,
went directly forward. We were all to march as near as
possible, and by every precaution to avoid discovery.
When we had taken up our respective positions, we were
to conceal ourselves till just before the dawn of day, when
the main body would fire a rocket, which, on being
answered by us, was to be the signal for a simultaneous
advance and attack. We were to make what observations
we could, under cover of the night, as to the readiest
means of getting into the town, which was defended by
low mud walls, having three entrance ports. On taking
possession of these entrances, we were each to leave a party
to keep them, who were to kill or make prisoners all who
attempted to escape, whilst the remainder attacked those
within. If any of us should be previously discovered, or
if we should be attacked, we were to retreat to the main
body. After some other instructions, De Ruyter com-
manded us to kill none, at our peril, but those with arms
in their hands ; and particularly to avoid doing injury to
the women, children, and prisoners.

CHAPTER XL.

With a nimble savageness attacks,

Escapes, makes fiercer onset, then anew

Eludes death, giving death to most that dare

Trespass within the circuit of his sword. Keats' MS.

My party had some distance to go, and up a rugged and
precipitous path, where we were suddenly stopped by a
black and deep ravine, or chasm, at the bottom of which
we heard the dashing of water. It would have been folly
to attempt to cross here ; for a couple of men, on the other
side, might have perhaps opposed us with success. We
therefore went lower down the mountain ; and it was with
great toil, and the loss of time, that we crossed to the op-

A YOUNGER SON. 157

posite side. My impetuosity spurred me on ; and, when
it wanted little more than half an hour to dawn, our scouts
in advance gave us the welcome intelligence of being near
our destination. I now halted our party, and advanced
with two men. We descended a narrow sheep-path, amidst
broken and stony ground, overgrown with prickly peas,
low shrubs, and clumps of the palm cocoa. We heard dis-
tinctly the surf breaking on the beach, with the monotonous
regularity of the ticking of a clock at night. The ground
became smoother, and we discerned, close under us, the
low huts of the town, huddled together, and looking like a
multitude of large white ant-hills, or bee-hives. We then
came to some ruins, on a conical hill, up which one of the
Arabs climbed on all fours, like a jackal, and found it was
deserted. I sent the other man back, to bring up our
party, as this was a capital post to occupy, in case of sur-
prise. With great caution I then descended to the wall of
the town ; it was low, and in a crumbling state, till I came
to two or three palm trees, where a mud hut was built on
the wall, like a swallow's nest. Below there was an en-
trance, or rather a hole, which evidently led to the interior.
Having examined the place well, we hastily returned. The
clouds gave indications of breaking in the east. The rain
was still falling. I crept down with ten men, and ad-
vanced under the shadow of the wall, till within pistol-shot
of the entrance. There taking our position, we impatiently
awaited the concerted signal from De Ruyter.

The night was tardily withdrawing her dusky canopy,
and the morning advanced gloomily. The hushed stillness
was ominously broken by the whizzing noise of the rocket-
signal, flying like a meteor over the devoted Maratti town.
It evidently came, not as it should have done, from De
Ruyter, but from the lieu tenant, being exactly opposite to
my position, which showed that the lieutenant's party was
discovered, or anticipated discovery. I replied to it ; and
nearly at the same moment another rocket ascended from
De Ruyter. This commanded an immediate attack ; and
scarcely had it risen to the height of the lance I held in
my hand, ere I had forced the trifling impediments at the
entrance ; and, in my haste, stumbled over something on

158 ADVENTURES OP

the ground. The man, for such it was, essayed to rise.
I dropped my lance, and grappled him by the throat. The
greater part of my Arabs rushed in. I called out to force
open the inner entrance ; which done, the faint light showed
us four or five of the Maratti rising from the ground, com-
mencing their war-cry. These were despatched quickly.
The man I held scarcely needed the aid of the creese,
which I forced through his breast into the sandy floor.

A commotion was now raised within. We got through
the rude out -works into the interior. The remainder of
my men were dropping down inside the wall, which, with
the aid of their lances, they had scaled. A noise of the
assault on the other side was growing high ; and presently
we heard the sharp report of fire-arms. I left a portion
of my men to guard the entrance, and advanced, as pre-
viously arranged, to the centre of the habitations ; the in-
mates of which — for the surprise was complete — came
out in twos and threes, in great confusion and terror.
Those who crossed our path we speared ; and those seeking
to save themselves by flight we fired at. We gave them
not an instant to rally, till we arrived at the ruins of a con-
siderable building in the centre, which had been erected as
a magazine and court of guard by the Portuguese or Dutch.
Here having taken possession, we halted. Presently the
lieutenant, and then De Ruyter, came up ; he said, " Well
done, my lad ! always first in danger." Then leaving an
officer and twenty men to keep this place, we advanced in
three parties, dividing the men equally, with strict injunc-
tions to make all the prisoners we could, and send them in
to this post.

De Ruyter told me to go round to the port I had en-
tered, as there would be an attempt to escape that way to
the mountains ; and while he was speaking, a sharp fire
was opened from that quarter. I hastened thither, amidst
a scattering fire of muskets and match-locks, and the yells
and shrieks of men, women, and children, running about
in all directions. The war-cry of the Arabs, and the
allons ! and vive ! of the French were so loud, that I could
not hear either my own voice, or distinguish the report of
my own carbine. On nearing the place at which we had

A YOUNGER SON. 159

entered, we saw a mingled heap of naked savages, of all
ages, men and women, armed with creeses, guns, knives_,
and bamboo spears ; others with their children, and many
loaded with their goods, all rushing on. I stopped my
men, and gave them a volley ; and as they were facing
about, we charged them with our lances. They stood on
their defence with the fierceness of desperation, and a few
of our men dropped; but they resisted without method,
impeded by their own numbers, and a panic seizing on
them, they separated to escape. A great many were
butchered, and no prisoners made ; for blood is like wine,
the more we have the more we crave, till, excited to mad-
ness, one excess leads to another ; and it is easier to per-
suade a drunken man to desist from drinking whilst he can
hold his glass, than a man, whose hands are reeking with
blood, to desist from shedding more.

My fellows rushed about in ungovernable disorder, de-
stroying all whom they met ; and I was obliged to remain
myself at the outlet, until I had enforced ten or twelve of
them to keep that post. As the light grew clearer, objects
became distinct, and I beheld the confusion and slaughter
going on within. My senses were dizzy with the blood I
had shed, and seen shed. The Maratti, environed in their
own walls, essayed every outlet, sought every means to
provide for the escape of their women and their children,
and, finding none, they fought with the fearlessness or
heedlessness of ensnared tigers. They ran from gate to
gate with blind fury, and threw themselves headlong on
the bayonets and lances. They had never heard of mercy^
yielding, or asking for quarter. There were no such words
in their language. They had been accustomed to shed
blood from their childhood, whether of men or monkies,
with equal indifference ; and they believed all the world to
be of the self-same nature. As for Europeans, they were
always treated by them, if they fell into their hands, like
fish — hanged up in the sun to dry. Old men, women,
and children, therefore, preferred to die fighting ; and,
thus far, we had not a single prisoner. They would have
succeeded in forcing my position, had not De Ruyter come
to my aid. I feel extreme pain and shame at remember-

]60 ADVENTURES OF

ing the horrible ferocity with which I slaughtered these
besotted barbarians, and more at the savage and inhuman
delight with which I did so. It would have ended in their
total extermination, had they not effected several outlets in
their mouldering walls.

The only wound I received was in the leg, from a
woman, who attempted to hamstring me as, in hurrying
along, I stepped on her body ; and the first symptom of
my returning reason was, on discovering her sex, instead
of crushing her with my uplifted foot, to have her carried
to the main guard : this was the first prisoner we had
taken. It was then De Ruyter came to me, and said,
ce We have had blood enough. Call our people off, and
let the poor devils go. Seize what prisoners you can, but
take no more lives : and lead your men to the huts on that
sand-hill ; — there you will find their Arab and other pri-
soners : take care they are not sacrificed in the fray ; and
send them to the guard. Bandage your leg — you are
bleeding fast."

CHAPTER XLI.

She was born at midnight in an Indian wild,

Her mother's screams with the striped tigers 'blent,

While the torch-bearing slaves a halloo sent

Into the jungles ; and her palanquin

Rested amid the desert's dreariment,

Shook with her agony, till fair were seen

The little Bertha's eyes ope on the stars serene. Keats' MSL

How beautiful, if sorrow had not made

Sorrow more beautifnl than beauty's self. Keats.

I did so, and went, as directedj to the sand-hill. It was
well I did, or we should not have had a prisoner to release ;
for the women were killing them, as they lay bound hand
and foot on the ground in heaps. These dark hags were
despatched. Then entering a small matted tent, affixed to
a larger one, the first object which struck me was a naked,

A YOUNGER SON 1.6l

gaunt Arab, bound and fastened to a short stake driven
into the earth. He was covered with stabs, weltering in
his own blood ; yet though bound, helpless, and dying, his
unsubdued spirit still shone like a chieftain's. An aged, a
decrepit she-devil was lying on his prostrate body, she
having slipped in the gore, and with a cocoa-nut knife in
her hand, was backing at him with feeble blows. Her
fallen victim held fast her left hand in his teeth : and at
his feet, huddled up in a corner, was a young girl, almost
naked, screaming in affright, — " Oh ! father, father, let
me get up ! " — with her bound hands stretched out, strug-
gling to rise, but pressed down by the strong limbs of the
man, who thus sheltered her from the fiendish old woman. I
seized on the cloth band round the Hecate's loins, and, lifting
her withered carcase up in the air, I dashed her down with
such force, that she never stirred more, but lay sprawling
like a crushed toad, the faint sparks of life being extin-
guished without even a groan escaping her.

This scene exhibited to my view the worst of cruelty, in
its most diabolical shape, and filled me with horror and
pity. I bade an Arab unbind the father, who lay motion-
less watching me, as I proceeded to liberate his daughter.
He seemed perfectly reckless of himself, and hesitating
how to act, doubting my designs. In vain he endeavoured
to sit up, for the ground was slippery with his blood. I
saw his fears, and, to dispel them, instantly placed him in
a sitting posture, and drew my creese from my belt, His
eyes glared ferociously. I put the weapon into his hand,
and said, — " We are friends, father ! — fear not !" He
tried to speak, but the blood oozed from his mouth, and
the words died on his lips.

His child, now unbound, over whom I threw a mantle,
crawled to her father's side, and kissing his incrimsoned
hands and eyes, bent over him in speechless and inde-
scribable anguish. The old man's desperate look relaxed ;
his eye lost its fierceness, then became clouded and dim. I
knelt, subdued by the scene, on the side opposite his child,
supporting him. He, with an effort, took my hand in his ;
I felt its clammy moisture ; he put it to his lips ; then,
with great difficulty, he removed a ring from his finger,

162 ADVENTURES OP

and placed it on mine ; and, laying my hand on his child's,
he alternately looked at us both, and convulsively squeezed
our hands together, muttering some words. My eyes were
wet with tears, which dropped on his bosom. His head
and frame shook as with an ague-fit; his fingers grew
cold as ice, his eye stony, fixed, and glazed, and his limbs
rigid. I could no longer uphold his increasing weight.
His spirit fled its earthly tenement. Yet still our hands
were bound together so fixedly in his, that I could not re-
lease them ; and he still seemed to gaze on us both with
intense anxiety.

Motionless as a form of marble, his child bent over him.
She neither wept, nor even appeared to breathe. This re-
called me to my senses. I thought she was dead too ; and
unclenching his death-gripe, I freed myself, arose, and
went to her. She appeared to awaken, when I tried
gently to remove her, as from a trance, threw her arms
round her father's neck, and clung to him with convulsive
strength. I cleared the tent of the gazers-on, who were
not unmoved, for they gave vent to their feelings in vows
of vengeance ; then placing two Arabs, in whom I could
confide, at the entrance, to let no one pass, I went into the
open air, to recover from the faintness that was creeping
over me.

I slung my carbine over my shoulder, and now used all
my efforts to stop the slaughter. A general pillage was
going on. The grab's and the corvette's long-boats were
attending on the beach, the vessels themselves not being
able to get round the reef, as it was perfectly calm. These
boats, therefore, and some canoes lying on the beach we
commenced loading with the booty, which was consider-
able ; gold, spices, bales of Chinese silk, the muslins of
India, cloths and shawls from the Persian Gulf, bags of
armlets and anklets, silver and gold ornaments, maize,
corn, rice, salt fish, turtle, rackee, and an infinity of arms
and apparel, besides slaves, male and female, of all ages
and countries. Every eye glistened, and every back was
bent with a costly burden.

Yet so greedy and insatiable were our men, who were
at first fastidious in their selection, that at last they re-

A YOUNGER SON. 1 63

garded every thing with a jealous eye, and became so gross
in their avaricious desires, that they would fain have borne
off garbage which the wild dog would have passed heedless
by ; rotten fish, mouldy rice, rancid ghee, broken pots and
pans, cast-off apparel, mats, and tents, nothing so villain-
ously worthless or nauseous, but had some value in their
inordinate avidity for plunder. What they could not
carry on their backs they did in their bellies : they gorged
themselves, like the ostrich, till they could scarcely move.
Van Scolpvelt and the steward now appeared in the
field, and took their ground, intent on very different ob-
jects. Van seemed distracted with the rich variety of
patients before him. As he hurried about the encamp-
ment, with his shirt sleeves tucked up, his skinny arms,
bare, bony, and hairy, a case of glittering and appalling
instruments in one hand, and in the other a monstrous
pair of scissors, rounded into the form of a crescent; he
realised, in his appearance, the most damnable picture of
an avenging demon that ever was conceived by saintly
painter or poet. Some, not quite dead, feebly shook their
creeses at him, others screamed with horror as he stopped
to examine their wounds, and a few actually gave up the
ghost as he approached.

The steward, on the other hand, grinned from ear to
ear, as he contemplated the huge mass of plunder, and the
destruction of the pirates, whom he hated, because they
had repeatedly intercepted the cattle trade to the Mau-
ritius. But his joy was presently checked, and he said to
me in sadness, and in worse English than I give him,
u Oh, Captain, can you let these improvident savages waste
so much? Look, the earth is covered with grain and
flour as if it had snowed ! And do you see these lively
turtles ? They are of the most delicious kind, and the
most beautiful creatures I ever saw : what beastly savages
to leave them here ! Make the men throw away the
lumber they are carrying on board ; we don't want it ; do
you ? and load the boats with these. Of what use are
those black savages you are sending in the boats ? One
of these" (pointing to a turtle) " is worth an island of
them. Nobody can eat them ; can you ? Bah ! I hate
m 2

164 ADVENTURES OP

savages, and doat on turtle; dont you?" We have
enough of the one sort on board ; but where have you
ever seen such lovely creatures as these ? I have not for
years ; have you ? "

Intent on this, which now solely occupied him, by
threats and entreaties he endeavoured to induce the men
to assist him in bearing off the turtle. At last growing
desperate at the Arabs, who loathe them, (which Louis
said proved they were without human palates,) he set
about loading the slaves and women with them, the latter
of whom he declared he never saw usefully employed be-
fore; then turning to me, asked, in his peculiar voice,
which began in the deep hollow tones of a muffled drum,
and ended with the tinkling jingle of a matin bell, i( Have
you?"

De Ruyter now came up, accompanied by Aston, who
had just come on shore to see the place. I told them of
the scene I had witnessed in the slave tent, when Aston's
gentle heart was moved, and he reproved me for having
left the girl. My reply was, that I had done so, thinking
it was better she should be left alone, to give vent to the
first burst of sorrow.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

A YOUNGER SON. l65

VOLUME THE SECOND,

CHAPTER I

The Moslem daughter went with her protector,

For she was harmless, houseless, helpless ; all

Her friends, like the sad family of Hector,

Had perish 'd in the field or by the wall :

Her very place of birth was but a spectre

Of what it had been ; there the muezzin's call

To prayer was heard no more ! Byron.

e€ But/' said De Ruyter, €e there is not now an instant to
lose. We must hasten aboard; for these fellows outside
will assuredly rally, and, aided by the Madagascarenes, as-
sault us in our turn. So call the stragglers together. The
prisoners are embarked, and we must embark forthwith."

u Come, Aston/' I said, (( assist me in getting this poor
orphan girl on board/'

We proceeded together to the tent, where we found her
making loud wailings. Then she would break off, and
cry, " Father, arise, — we are free ! The strangers are
good ; and see ! they come to free us. The old woman
has not killed me; I am well, and she herself is dead.
Oh ! father, get up ! — look, I have bound up your
wounds, — you don't bleed now ! " And indeed she had
carefully bandaged him with the only remaining rag on her
person.

Taking her hand, I said, " Come, dear sister ; you are
free. We must leave these cruel Maratti."

Without looking at me, she went on, — " See, how my
father sleeps ! They would not let him sleep or eat, and
he is weary and hungry."

ee Come, dear," I said, " we must go."

iC Go ! " she replied, " how can we ? — our father
m 3

166

ADVENTURES OP

sleeps ! — and I cannot awake him ! Oh, awake him, that
I may feed him ! See, I have got some beautiful fruit,
and his lips are dry. Oh, these cruel Maratti will come
again when you are gone, and kill him ! Awake, my
father ! His eyes are open, but he can 't move. He
is old, and feeble from hunger ; he wants food ; his lips
are cold with hunger ! " At this she kissed him, and rub-
bed his head, and squeezed pomegranate juice in his
mouth.

" Come !" said Aston, <e they are calling you. We
must be off. I cannot bear this sight. I 11 take her to
the boat/'

I entreated him to do so ; then gently loosed her hands,
covered her with my abbah, and told her I would take
care of her father. Aston snatched her up, and bore her
off. Her screams were appalling. She called on the
name of her father to save her ; and Aston shook, but not
with his light burden. I was in little better trim. Send-
ing some Arabs down to the beach with Aston, I returned
to De Ruyter, who was drawing off the men with great
difficulty.

Louis, whose bad English I must continue to make
better, as Aston passed him, exclaimed to me, " What is
he carrying away ? What ! a girl ! What use is she ?
Why, he could carry this great turtle, which else must be
abandoned, for no one here can lift him, — can you ?
And she might carry that little one, — it will make very
good soup ; and is very pretty, — much more so than
a little girl ? "

I passed on, ordering him instantly to come on board,
or the Maratti would soupify him. " What \" he ejacu-
lated, u leave that turtle, worth all the rest we have
taken ! " and he wrung his hands in anguish.

Armed men were now appearing on the hills ; and De
Ruyter grew furious at the tardy movements of his men.
Many of the Frenchmen were drunk, and could not be got
out of the tents. The shouts on the hills augmented, and
we were obliged to move. De Ruyter went out of the
gate, and I staid some time longer with the Arabs, to
collect stragglers, and then followed him. I omitted to

A YOUNGER SON. 1 67

mention, that we had fired the town in many places, and
burnt two Arab vessels which were grounded, with seven
or eight canoes on the beach.

The natives were hurrying towards the town ; and soon
after we saw bodies of them armed, skirting along the side
of the river we had to cross, and descending as if to attack
us there. We hastened on, preparing our arms. When
we arrived there, keeping as near the sea as possible, we
heard a firing, and saw De Ruyter crossing the river. He
left a party to keep the opposite bank, went on to the
boats, fearing they might be attacked, and sent a mes-
senger to me, to hasten me on. But before I could arrive
there, being detained by the difficulty in getting on the
drunken Frenchmen, the natives had increased till their
numbers were formidable. They grew bold, and attacked
the party on the opposite bank; then wading down the
stream, and closing on our rear, they became troublesome.
We kept our ground firmly, and I continued on the bank
till our party had crossed. Just as I was following with
my Arabs, I heard some shots in our rear, and now
appeared, emerging from behind a sand-bank, a monstrous
figure, a Patagonian, in (what I thought, as the sun shone
on him,) bright scaled armour. It was the steward, with
the turtle on his shoulders, accompanied by a Dutch
soldier. I roared out to them to come on quickly, for
every moment became more perilous. As they staggered
towards us, I could hardly refrain from laughing. Louis,
whom I could with difficulty make out to be a human
figure, looked like a hippopotamus, as, reeling like a
drunken man, he bent under the weight of the huge fish,
which I thought he had left behind. The other fellow,
the Dutchman, who came staggering on in his wake, was
bulged out into preposterous proportions ; his red Guernsey
frock and ample Dutch trowsers, secured at the wrists and
knees, were crammed with stowage of gold and jewels,
which he had discovered after one of the houses had been
pulled down. He looked like a woolsack, and moved like
a Dutch dogger, which his broad beam resembled, labouring
in a head sea. I told them to cast their slough, if they
valued their lives, and commenced crossing the river
m 4

16*8 ADVENTURES OP

by a sand-bank, thrown up by the tide, the oniv passable
ford.

The natives pressed more closely on our rear ; the
difficulty in using our arms in the water made them bold ;
and but for our men stationed on the opposite bank, we
should have had little chance of escape ; for they, in a
great degree, checked their advance, and kept the space
clear before us. Still we were compelled to hurry on. At
this moment I heard something flounder in the water, and
a savage yell, as of triumph, from the natives. I looked
round, and the Dutch soldier, who was in my rear, was
missing. Overballasted by his treasure, he lost his footing
on the ford, and sunk in the stream, borne down by the
weight about his body, which it was impossible for him to
shake off. I only got a glimpse of his person, when
my attention was called off by the steward, who either
from fear, or from having been caught hold of by his fallen
countryman, who was close to him, had also fallen. I ran
back, and holding the shaft of a spear to him, he grasped it
tight, while the huge monster he had been carrying tumbled
into the water, and flapped his heavy fins in triumph, as
he regained his native element.

When Louis had recovered himself on the bank, he
exclaimed, with a rueful look, — <c But where is my turtle ?
Oh, don't mind me, Captain ! — save the turtle ! "

ec Hang the turtle ! I wish he was down your throat ! "

t( Oh ! so do I, Captain ! — that 's all I want ! Oh,
where 's my turtle ? " As he vociferated this demand, up
it rose to the surface, in mockery of his enemy ; and the
instant its bright shell glistened in the sun, Louis seemed
inclined to rush down the stream after it, bawling out,
" There he is ! Oh, save him !"

Thinking he meant the soldier, I looked, and inquired,
"Where?"

" Why, there ! " he replied, pointing to the turtle.
" Oh, Captain, I told you how lively he was ! I cut his
throat two hours ago ; but he won't die till sunset ; they
never do ; and then he will be lost, — won't he ! "

I had ordered two of my men to drag him along ; and
so loath was he to leave the turtle, that with his eyes

A YOUNGER SON. l6Q

strained down the stream, he came reluctantly in a sidelong
motion, like a crab.

Once or twice I was compelled to turn round on our
pursuers, and drive them off^ before we reached the other
side. We hastened to regain our boats. Four of our men
were slightly wounded in this retreat ; besides the loss of
the Dutch soldier, and the deeply lamented turtle. Where-
ever the ground was broken, or where there was a cover
of rocks or shrubs, the Madagascarenes closed in on our
flank and rear. I therefore retired close to the sea, and
skirted its margin. There was one very dangerous pass ;
it was the rough abutment of ragged rocks jutting out int6
the sea, half a mile on the other side of which were our
boats. The natives were ranged along the ridges in files,
and there was already a sharp firing going on there. While
wondering that De Ruyter should have deserted me under
such circumstances, and hesitating as to the best mode
of proceeding, I espied on the extreme point his swallow-
tailed flag. We now ran on, and were hailed by our ship-
mates ; who seeing this post was possessed by the enemy,
had driven them up, and opened a passage for us. Yet
every inch was obstinately disputed, and here three of our
men were left dead ; for the natives, under cover of the
rocks, and lying down with their long matchlocks, had
a great advantage, while we could not get a shot at them.
The boats approached ; and the French soldiers were
drawn up on the beach, which being open, the natives
dared not advance, though they kept up a scattering fire.
We embarked amidst the wild yells of the savages, who,
the moment we shoved off, came down like a countless flock
of crows ; and with as much noise and din they even fol-
lowed us into the water, and their arrows, stones, and balls
fell about us like a hail-storm.

170 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER II.

. Ay! at set of sun;
The breeze will freshen when the day is done.

*****

The vessel lay
Her course, and gently made her liquid way j
The cloven billow flash 'd from off her prow
In furrows form'd by that majestic plough ;
The waters with their world were all before,
Behind the South Sea's many an islet shore. Byron.

All of us, I believe, were glad to regain our ships. We
then towed them out, it being a dead calm ; awaited the
land breeze at night ; and ran directly from the land,
shaping our course for the island of Bourbon.

On computing our loss on board the two ships, the
killed and missing amounted to only fourteen, but we had
twenty-eight wounded, most of them, however, slightly.
I observed to De Ruyter, as I was entering these par-
ticulars in the log-book, — c: It appears to me, considering
the service we were on, and the numbers against us, this is
a very small loss/'

ic No, it was a very large one !" cried out Louis, who
had just come down the ladder, €t you 11 never see so fine
a one again. I 'd rather have lost every man and thing
than that ; — would not you ? "

ce What do you mean, Louis ? "

" Mean ! — why, the turtle, to be sure. You saw it,
Sir, and might have saved it, — could you not ? But you
think of nothing but little girls, — my turtle was worth all
the girls in the world ; — was it not ? " — turning, as
he always did, at his repeated interrogations, sharp round,
and shoving his expanded nostrils right in one's face.

" This fellow," said de Ruyter, " is a Hindoo ; and
believes the world is supported on the back of an enormous
turtle/'

" And I should not wonder," I added, " if he makes a
voyage to the Pole, not for the benefit of navigation, but to
extract its calliopash and calliopee. What luxury, Louis,

A YOUNGER SON. 171

to let your entire carcass wallow in such a sea of green fat !
— would it not ? " — mimicking him.

"Yes;" he replied; "but there is no turtle there;
nothing but walrusses, white bears, and whales."

Van Scolpvelt now came down with some splinters of
bone in his palm, and said, holding out his saw in the
other hand, " See here ! I have trepanned a skull ; and
look, what I told you is true ; feel the edges of the bone,
they are smooth as ivory, and have a gloss, a polish on
them, quite beautiful. I have extracted a ball, and the
cerebrum is uninjured, the weight of a hair not having
compressed it." He was proceeding to say the man never
felt it, when an assistant came to tell him he was dying.
<c That 's a lie ! " he exclaimed, and rushed on deck after
the messenger, who was frightened at the outstretched
instrument. As the doctor followed him up the ladder, it
tickled him on the breech, and made him spring on the
deck, as if a white-hot iron had been applied.

Soon after, under the superintendence of Louis, a feast,
that might well be termed a turtle one, was served up. A
huge tub of soup, where a fleet of canoes might have
almost fought a battle, the steward himself put on the
table ; and mopping his reeky brows, said — Ci Taste that,
and you '11 live for ever i Why, the odour itself is a feast
for a burgomaster, or a king ! I never smelt any thing so
beautiful ; — did you ? "

Then came calliopash and calliopee, and stewed, and
steaked, and minced, and balled, and grilled ; and when all
these were cleared away, leaving us well nigh surfeited,
quoth Louis le Grand, — u Now here are two dishes which
I have invented, and no one has the secret of them ; though
burgomasters and foreign ambassadors have been sent to
me with great offers to discover it. But I never would ;
because this secret makes me greater than all the kings in
the world, for they cannot purchase them with a kingdom,
nor would I give them in exchange for a kingdom ; —
would you ? All I shall tell you is this — and it is more
than I ever told any one before — the soft eggs, and head,
and heart, and entrails, are all there ! — but there are
many other things, which I shall not, must not, speak of."

172 ADVENTURES OF

Casting his eye on my plate, and seeing the green fat
left, he inquired in astonishment why I did not eat it. I
answered him, " I can't ; I don't like it." " Can't ! " he
exclaimed — <e why, if I were dying, and had but strength
enough to open my mouth, I would devour that divine food !
And not like it ! — then you are no Christian ! — is he ?
But it is impossible, — I don't believe him ; ■ — do you ? *'

Madagascar is one of the largest and most fertile islands
in the world ; nearly nine hundred miles in length, and
three hundred and fifty in its greatest breadth. There is
a chain of glorious mountains, winding through its entire
length, of varied height, whence many large and navigable
rivers take their source. The interior of this vast island,
and its inhabitants, are little known ; but those parts on
the coast which, at that time and afterwards, I have
frequently visited, give abundant indications that nature
has here scattered her riches with no stinting hand.
Nothing seems wanting but knowledge to place this mag-
nificent island in the foremost rank of great and powerful
empires. When I was there, the line distinguishing the
man from the animal was hardly visible.

The evening was singularly beautiful, the sea calm and
clear as a mirror, and our crew sinking into rest, outworn
by the unwonted toil of this busy day. De Ruyter was in
the cabin ; I was keeping the watch, and Aston bore me
company. He lay along the raised stern, and I leant over
the taffrail, gazing on the land. The forms in the distant
range of mountains were growing dark and indistinct.
The transparent, glassy, and deep blue of the sea faded
into a dusky olive, subdivided by an infinity of mazy,
glimmering bars, as if embroidered with diamond heads,
traced by the varied, wandering airs, and sporting like the
lion's whelps on their mother's quiet bosom; while he,
their mighty parent, lay hushed within his lair, the
caverned shore, torpid from toil and devastation. Over the
land the glowing sun hastened to his cool sea-couch ; his
expiring rays stained the lucid sky with bright, fading
colours, — deep ruby tints changing to purple ; then
emerald green, barred and streaked with azure, white, and
yellow ; and as the sun was dipping, the whole firmament

A YOUNGER SON. 173

was dyed in crimson, and blazed ; then left the western
sky brighter than molten gold, till the sun's last rays were
extinguished. When the moon came forth with her
silvery,, gleaming light, all the gay colours faded, leaving
a few fleecy and dappled specks, like lambs grazing on the
hills in heaven. The change was like life in youth and
beauty suddenly extinguished ; white and misty death,
with his pallid win ding- sheet, enveloped all around. As
the grab's stern swung round, and as my eye caught our
companion, the corvette, her black hull and white wings
alone broke the line of the moon-lit horizon, like a sea-
sprite reposing on the boundless waters. Enwrapped in
our contemplation of the wonderful beauty of an eastern
night, we remained hours in silence ; and after the turmoil
of the day, this stillness had a preternatural, or magic
effect on the mind, more soothing than sleep. The helms-
man, in his sleep, from habit, called out — e< Steady !
steady!" and even the customary forms of changing the
watches had been neglected ; while the sentinels, un-
conscious that their time of duty was expired, dozed on
their posts of guard over the the prisoners ; and the balm
of sleep medicined the wounded, and made free the captive,
who, perhaps, dreaming of hunting on his native moun-
tains, or fondling with his young barbarians, or their
mother, was destined to awake, fettered and bound with
festering manacles, chained, like a wild beast, in the worst
of dungeons, under the sea, in a ship's hold, doomed to
death or slavery.

CHAPTER III.

And we prolonged calm talk beneath the sphere

Of the calm moon, when suddenly was blended

"With our repose a nameless sense of.fear ;

* * * I seem'd to hear

Sounds gathering upwards, accents incomplete,

And stifled .shrieks : and now, more near and near,

A tumult and a rush of thronging feet. Shelley

A sound, as of some one moving, caught my ear, instantly
succeeded by a rattling noise, as of stifling, and a gurgling

174* ADVENTURES OF

fiowj as of water, followed. Aston and myself started up.
He inquired, ec What is that ? " as a heavy weight tumbled
on the deck, in the bow of the grab. Ere any one could
answer, a dark and naked figure approached us with a
hurried step. Instinctively I griped hold of the small
creese I always wore in my sash. As he stopped, a few
paces before us, I said, " Holla ! Torra, is that you ? "
(He was a Madagascarene slave, whom De Ruyter had
emancipated, and who had been much favoured by him and
me.) " What do you want ? What noise was that just
now forward ? "

He replied, — " Only Torra kill his bad brother with
this." And he extended his black bare arm, his hand
clutching a broad knife,
" Killed what?"

He repeated, " My brother — bad brother Shrondoo."
ee What brother? You are mad or drunk!" For
I knew of no brother he had.

e< No, massa. Torra no mad, and no drink."
An alarm now took place in the forecastle ; and the
helmsman, opening his eyes, said, " Steady ! Steady ! "
Torra looked round, and, seeing the men coming aft, said,
ec You no hear me now, massa. Torra say all when day
come/'

The men recoiled on coming near hinr, seeing his knife.
He observed it, and told them — ec No fear Torra. No
do bad. Torra only kill bad brother ;" — and he cast the
weapon into the sea. " Massa, you good man. You friend
to poor black slave ; won't let them kill Torra, now night.
When morrow come, Torra say all. He wish to die then.
No wish to live. Go to his father in good land ; no slave
there ; no bad white man come buy poor black one, for
make slave."

Thinking him mad, I ordered him to be seized, hand-
cuffed, and ironed. He stood motionless, only again
saying, —

" No kill Torra night. - Kill Torra morning. Torra
must tell all."

I hastened forward, asking — u What has he done ?
Who is killed ? " And as 1 advanced, my naked feet felt

A YOUNGER SON. 175

something wet and slippery. Looking down I beheld a
dark liquid stream running to the scupper holes. Something
lay huddled up, from which it flowed, an undistinguishable
mass, covered with a stained white cotton garment, at the
breech of the bow-gun carriage. A man lifted it partly
up, and said, Ci Here he is ! " The gazers-on said,
' ' Allah ! II Allah ! " and it again fell heavily ; when, at
the sound they all stepped back. The light of the moon,
then unshaded, fell on the corpse of a dark naked man; its
covering had fallen ; the head was nearly separated from
the trunk by a frightful gash across the throat. Again I
demanded who it was ; but none could answer. I then
recognised it as the body of one of the prisoners lately
captured. As life was extinct, I ordered the corpse to be
laid on a grating, and brought aft, and a sentinel to be
placed over the assassin.

This horrid sight seemed to have banished sleep. The
men stood about in disordered groups, startled at their own
voices, which sounded low and husky ; and fellows whose
hands and garments were still moist and dabbled from the
morning's slaughter, stood appalled at a solitary night-
murder. They gathered round to gaze on Torra, the
assassin, as he sat on his heels, shadowed by the bulk-head.
His irons jangled, and the gazers-on shrunk back ; the
same men who, a few hours before, had assaulted un-
hesitatingly a walled camp of desperate men, of ten times
their number.

Aston and De Ruyter were conferring together, when I
observed a light air stealing along from the land. I called
out, <c All hands trim sails ! " The crew started, and then
I went on giving directions to shorten sail, to reef top-
sails, and to make sail again. De Ruyter came up to me,
and said, u Why all hands ? There is no squall that I
can see/'

ec Nor I either," I replied ; " but a panic seems to have
taken possession of the whole crew ; and I want, by find-
ing employment, to shake it off. They appeared spell-
bound ; and if a squall had come, we should have lost our
masts, ere they regained their faculties/'

" Well thought of, my lad !"

%

^76 ADVENTURES OF

Having turned the tide in the sailors' minds, by making
as great a commotion as if we were in a storm, they replied
to my orders, and moved with their wonted alacrity,
regardless of the continued stillness of the weather. At
any other period I should have insured to myself a thousand
muttering, sullen curses. This done, I left De Ruyter in
charge of the deck ; and in despite of what had taken
place, the stiffness of my limbs, and the smarting of my
cut leg, with shooting pains from former wounds, which
seemed breaking out again, so heavy were my eyes that,
while endeavouring to recall the events of the day, without
troubling myself to unrig, I tumbled into a berth, and
slept as soon as my head touched the pillow, as if by
enchantment. Perhaps it was a magic pillow ; — I wish I
had it now.

CHAPTER IV.

I am a guilty, miserable wretch ;

I have said all I know, now let me die. Shelley.

In a youthful, well-formed frame, which is health and
strength, and wherein a good heart naturally seeks to dwell,
for it must have room to expand, in order that its glowing
impulses may rush through every channel, unimpeded, like
lightning, ere it cools, — in such a frame the soul or
spirit which governs us is strongly engendered, is born, and
lives for ever ; but when forced and crammed into narrow,
dark, and dreary bosoms, from want of air and room, its
feeble flame dimly flickers in the lamp of life, till it is al-
most or wholly extinguished. The philanthropist Owen
of Lanark, or the sage and saintly Hannah More, and her
tribe, scrawl and jabber about education, and of that alone
constituting the difference between man and man, and of
nature having sent us into the world equally disposed for
good or evil. Shakspeare and Bacon thought otherwise ;
and they were deep and wise, as the others are shallow and

A YOUNGER SON. 177

foolish. Bacon says, <c Deformed persons are commonly
even with nature ; for as nature hath done ill by them, so
do they by nature, being for the most part (as the Scripture
saith,) void of natural affection ; and so they have their
revenge of nature/' And as ill-finished, dwarfish, or mis-
created abortions sometimes strive against their nature to
attain goodness, so do the well-formed (for I talk not of
beauty), in some instances, incline to evil, from choice
against their nature.

I have been led into this digression by the memory of
Aston and De Ruyter, whose noble and majestic persons,
free and graceful movements, lofty spirits, and gentle and
loving hearts, first awakened in my nature feelings, which
had been trampled on but not annihilated, of friendship and
benevolence; for I had begun to think the world was peo-
pled with demons, and that I was confined in a dark and
dreary hell. How fondly do I dwell on those days, and
gladly pay them this tribute, poor as it is, in return for
such content and happiness as I experienced in their dear
presence, when the sun seemed always shining, and the
world one great garden of fruits and flowers ! I would not
then have given up this world, such as it was to me, for
paradise, such as it is painted by saintly enthusiasts, even
though I could have gone thither, without passing through
the dread ordeal leading to it.

Yet mine was then a life of almost unexampled toil and
peril, of pain from wounds, and sometimes of greater suf-
fering from hunger and thirst. I have seen the time when
I would have freely exchanged my blood, or given both my
hands full of gold, for enough water to fill one of my
palms ; when my lips have been glued together, and thirst,
like a malignant fever, gnawed at the vitals of life. Abun-
dance came, and my sufferings were forgotten on the in-
stant, or only remembered to give a keener appetite, a more
exquisite relish to things, which, grown too common by
use, are almost considered useless, — bread and water.
Often, with my head pillowed on a shot-locker, for iron
served my turn then better than the softest down does now,
covered with a tarpaulin to break the fury of the rain and
spray, in which I was well nigh floating, plunged and

ITS ADVENTURES OF

tossed on what might be well called a sea-coffin, on a lee
and dangerous shore, amidst thunder and lightning, in a
tempest which would have torn up a cedar as easily as
man uproots a blade of corn, — thus, and in such a scene,
I have slept sounder than a wearied child upon its mother's
lap, hushed with song and gentle rocking. If I could en-
dure these hardships and privations uncomplainingly, how
unnaturally must I have been dealt with in my earlier
days by parents and guardians, to be so disgusted with
life, as to seriously ponder on self-destruction ! Yet not
only did I think on it, but, at the age of fourteen, I was
on the point of carrying it into execution. It was then
that I collected all the authorities, ancient and modern,
within my reach, in its defence and justification. I am
induced to mention this, on account of having found that
paper a few days since. But soon after Aston, Walter,
and then De Ruyter bound me to the world by the gentle
chains of friendship. Thus was I rescued from a fate,
which, but for their love, would assuredly have been mine.
It was near noon ere I was awaked by the doctor's boy
with a bottle of camphor and oil to apply externally, and
a mixture to take internally. Louis was standing by,
giving directions for serving up a second repast of turtle,
and commenced an angry altercation with the fellow.
" What is camphor good for," said he, " but to stuff dead
Arabs? I hate the smell; — don't you? The doctor
would make every man live on poison, like himself, the
scorpions, and the centipedes. The captain wants to fill
his body, not to rub his legs. The soup is ready ; and I
warrant that will go down to his toe-nails, and circulate
through his corns, if he has any. It will cure every thing ;
— won't it ? "

I answered, for I was hungry as a bird in a hard frost,
<! I think it will." So the boy was chased up the ladder,
and a repetition of turtle laid on the table. When Pe
Ruyter and Aston came down, I inquired what had been
done with Torra.

" He is as you left him."

iC Well, have you found out the mystery ? For he must
have been governed by some strong impulse, to enact so

A YOUNGER SON. 179

bloody a tragedy, as he has always appeared a good and
quiet man."

" Yes/' observed De Ruyter ; i( but I have ever found
these very quiet men the most dangerous, revengeful, and
bloody. They execute, whilst brawling fellows satisfy
themselves with talking, Did you not see him, in the
morning's slaughter, dyed like a red Indian in blood ? "

iC Certainly I did ; he startled me. He rushed wherever
they were thickest, armed with nothing but two long knives.
I began to think he had a propensity for cannibalism. But
he is kind-hearted as bold : you remember the other day,
when my favourite bird, the loorie, was knocked overboard,
in a squall, by the topsail halliards ; he leaped into the sea,
and saved him. And he was very honest ; for he was con-
tinually down here, wThere dollars are more plentiful in the
lockers than biscuits, and spirits than either, yet he never
took one of the first, nor helped himself to a glass of the
latter. Besides, Louis knows him to be the most trust-
worthy man in the ship."

" Oh," said Louis, iC I am sure of that ! I'd trust him
with all the gold in the world ; for nothing can tempt him
to steal. Only recollect when, off Ceylon, I picked up
that pretty little turtlet, which you all contended was a log
of wood, — but I knew he wTas a turtle. Why, I can see
a turtle twenty miles off, when he shows no more shell
above water than that ladle ; that is, when they sleep, for
then they like to feel the sun on their backs, — don't you ?
Well, do you remember how I took him up in the boat, so
gently, without waking him, like a little child ! And then,
when I was5 insinuating my knife between his shell, he
just popped out his pretty little head, looked me in the face,
and felt my knife tickle him; and he had only time to
draw it in again, before he felt himself in the pot on the
fire. Oh! the black man is honest and brave ! — for he
knocked down one of the men who wanted to put his spoon
into that soup ! And though I left it to him to watch, he
did n't even put his finger in to have one lick. Oh ! he is
the most honest man in the world ! — for any body else
would have had one lick, — would not you ? a black man,
quite different from a white man, steals nothing, not so
n 2

180 ADVENTURES OF

much as a lick at the soup. I like a black man for that ;
— don't you ? "

a Come," said De Ruyter, " hand out the long corks,
and clear the decks."

This done, Louis withdrew himself into his berth,
where we heard him feeding like a cormorant, and bolting
green fat, as a turkey bolts barley-meal balls. " If the
ship were on fire," said Aston, " he would not move from
his moorings ; he is fast. So, De Ruyter, tell us about
Torra."

" It is soon done," said he, " but I must first tell you
what I knew of him previously to last night/'

CHAPTER V.

I do not feel as if I were a man,

But like a fiend appointed to chastise

The offences of some unremembered world. Shelley,

Thou wert a weapon in the hand of God

To a just use. Zbid

ci Eighteen months since I put into the Island of Rodri-
quez for wood and water; and, shooting in a jungle there,
I sprung this fellow from a lurking-place among the rocks.
He was one of the most wild and hungry "

(( What !" bawled out Louis, not getting up, but thrust-
ing his enormous head forwards, the perspiration running
from his forehead, the turtle-fat oozing from his jaws, and
his eyes, like a lobster's, protruding, " What ! hungry ! —
If he 's hungry, I'll give him some of this. I can't eat it
all, and there 's plenty on board now ; and I love him, be-
cause he 's an honest man."

Our laughter compelled him to withdraw, when De
Ruyter continued : — " Having a rifle in my hand, he could
not escape. I beckoned him towards me, and when he
tame I questioned him. As well as I could comprehend
him, he gave me a dreadful account of what he had suf-

A YOUNGER SON. 181

fered from a Dutch overseer (for he was a slave), and that
he had been employed, with others, on the northern part
of the island, in salting fish and catching turtle, to be sent
to the Isle of France. He ran away just as the party
were taking their departure, before the S. W. monsoon was
over, for Macao ; and ever since he had lived alone in the
woods, subsisting on eggs, fish, and fruit. Well, though
this was an old tale, I pitied him, and took him on board ;
since which, as you have seen, he has always behaved ex-
tremely well."

Louis, now surfeited, again made his appearance, re-
commending us strongly to take a glass of skiedam, just to
keep the turtle quiet. " For," said he, " though you
have got him in your bellies, he'll not die till sunset, be-
cause he was killed this morning ; for now Torra is gone,
I have nobody able to assist me, A turtle should always
have his throat cut at sunset, and then they die directly.
Torra knows this ; but all the rest on board are fools, and
know nothing, — do they ? Just let this little drop go
down, it will turn him, he'll stay quiet till sunset, and
you'll hear nothing more of him. That French wine is
only good for soup, when there is no Madeira."

As he could not persuade us that smoky Hollands was
better than the best Bordeaux, he, to comfort himself,
half filled a cocoa-nut shell, which he called a sail-maker's
thimble, opened his dry dock gate, and let the water in.

De Ruyter, who oftener encouraged than interrupted
him, proceeded, " After you were asleep, I went to Torra.
On my questioning him, he related his story. I'll give it,
as well as my memory serves, in his own words."

" Do," I said ; " but not with your usual brevity. You
are a most unmerciful clipper down of other men's stories.
And I wish much to know every thing about the fellow ;
for, as Louis says, 1 like him, and shall be sorry to find I
have been deceived in him."

" I will be more honest," said De Ruyter, €i than most

translators are ; for, if I don't give it literally, you shall

have the matter unbiassed by my opinions, and free from

the chaff of canting moral digression, either as episode^

n 3

182 ADVENTURES OF

preface, note, or annotation, all which one fool makes.,
thinking many fools will read.

C6 ( I was born/ said Torra, ' at a fishing village, on the
north-east part of Madagascar, in the Bay of Antongil.
My father was a poor man, and took one wife. She had
only one child, a boy, sickly, and not good for much. She
would not let him work, nor would she have another child ;
and as she grew old, she grew cross. So, you see, the
same species of women flourish here as in Europe. In
courtship they give us their furred paw, and we think it
soft as velvet. We wed them j and then the contracted
talons are unfolded, and their gentle purring is changed to
a threatening hiss/ "

I looked at Aston, and we smiled at De Ruyter's having
so soon forgotten his promise at starting. He observed
this, and said, — ' ' By Heaven ! this is only a liberal trans-
lation, or imitation, of a simile he actually did make. Hear
his own words : ( In youth a woman is like a green gourd ;
her shell is soft^and pliant; but, when old, harder than
iron-wood. My father talks not to his wife, it is of no
use ; but like a wise man, he goes and buys another wife,
and gets three children by her. The first wife likes not
this,, and lets bim not bring her home. So he goes to the
other side of the water and builds a new house. Here he
catches more fish, and trades with the white men who
come there. He now sees not his old wife. Her son is
big enough to work, and he gives him a canoe, a fishing-
net, and a spear. But he likes not work, and they are
very poor.

" c When I grew strong, I was a good fisherman. My
father loves me. Sometimes I give my brother fish ; and
when I have no fish, I give him couries. Then the white
men,' (here Torra meant the Frenchmen from the Isle of
France,) ' seeing the place was good, speak kindly to my
father, and a great many come and live there. Soon after
they quarrel with my father. They want his land, where
he grows his bread, to build a strong place. My father
likes not to give it ; and they kill him, and take it, and
take my mother and my sisters, and make them slaves.

(< e I run up to the mountains, and then I cross to Nossi

A YOUNGER SON. 183

Ibrahim. There they are a very brave people, and hate
the whites. They steal on the water, not on the land, and
make no slaves. When I tell them the white men came
and killed my old father, who was a good friend to them,
they all say they are glad of it, for my father was wrong to
have white friends. But when I tell them they took my
mother and my sisters, and made them slaves, they say that
was very bad. Then they call a war-talk, and say they
would speak with these white men. And then an old man
who was a friend to my father, says, ' No ! it is not good
to speak with them. Their words are white as morning,
but their deeds are black as night. It is not good to speak
with them. It is good to kill them all.3 And after much
more talk, they agree with the wise old man.

" c They get many great war-canoes. They all sail
over in the night. There was no moon, and the night was
dark. The old man likes the black night. ' For the
white man,' he says, e is afraid, and likes not to fight in
the dark. A black man is the owl that sees them in the
night ; but they the wild turkey that sees nothing. Their
thunders strike not/

" c The wThite men made a feast ; for it was the great
day of their good spirit ; and in the poor black man's
country they are all drunk. And when we hear they sing
no .more, we know they sleep ; and we come down the
hills and kill them every one.

£C ( My friends take all they can find, and go away. I
like not to stay there, now that my father is dead. I take
my mother and sisters, and go to the other side, where my
father first lived. Our father gone, my brother seems
very sorry ; so we are all good friends, and I work for
them all. My brother goes many times away, we know
not whither ; and stays many days.

c: ( Four moons after, I go to Nossi Ibrahim, to see the
old man ; for he was a good friend, and more moons older
than I can tell. When I come back, I go to my house,
and find no one there, though it is night. I go to my
brother ; and he nearly dies with grief. He tells me that,
when I went away, the Maratti came in their war-canoes,
took my mother and sisters, and because his old mother
n 4

184? ADVENTURES OF

talked to them, and she not being good for much, they
killed her. e Now/ he says, ' I want to make fire to
burn her/ In grief we go, and build a pile, and the body
is burnt.

ci e Then my brother says to me, f It is not good to
weep. Thy tears will not bring back the women.'

" ' And I say, ' Why did they not take thee ? '

" ' Oh/ he says, e I ran up the mountain, and they saw
me not.'

" e I was going back to the old man at Nossi Ibrahim,
to ask counsel. But my brother says, * No ; that people
is few and poor, and they sell not slaves. The Maratti are
a very great people, and they make many slaves. They
hate each other like bad brothers. In the Maratti there
are some good men ; let us go to them ; one of them is my
uncle ; he will get back what you have lost, for he loves
me ; let us go and talk with him/ "

CHAPTER VI.

The ghastly spectres, which were doom'd at last

To tell as true a tale of dangers past,

As ever the dark annals of the deep

Disclosed for man to dread, or woman weep. Byron.

The boat was one curved shell of hollow pearl

Almost translucent. Shelley.

" The conclusion," continued De Ruyter, " you may sur-
mise. The simple fool, Torra, was kidnapped and sold by
his crafty brother. He, being the eldest, inherited paternal
rights over the youngest; and had, by their laws, the
power, of which he took advantage, to sell them all. His
old mother, having less of the devil in her, or through
fear, opposed him ; upon which he himself killed her.
Torra was sent in slavery to Rodriguez ; and the women
to the Isle of France. You already know the rest of
Torra's tragic history, and his summary code of laws.

A YOUNGEK SON. 185

There is no more to remark on but this : yesterday morn-
ing, when we had landed, he swam on shore with his
knives ; and it seems he joined your party."

To this I replied^ " Torra indeed surprised me. When
we were stumbling about in the dark, seeking to cross the
ravine, it was he that led us forward to a place lower down,
lie was afterwards of infinite use in directing us to the
walls and the gate. Indeed I had a suspicion, from his
extraordinary officiousness, that he intended some strata-
gem, and therefore I kept an eye on him. But on our
entering, when the signal was made in the morning, ail
doubt vanished ; for the fellow was by far the most active
of us all. Though he puzzled me then, you have now
made me understand his feelings of revenge against the
Maratti. While I was losing time in holding a fellow by
the throat, to prevent his giving an alarm to those within ,
Torra had most expeditiously, as well as more effectually,
silenced the three others — I verily believe, before they
were awake. He then burst open the other entrance,
which led to the interior. After which I lost sight of him,
till I caught his figure, crimsoned from head to foot, rush-
ing from hut to hut. Wherever he was, the air was rent
with piercing shrieks and screams, till all was silent. I
thought the fellow mad, .and at last fired a shot across his
bow, for it was useless to talk to him ; and thus I stopped
his triumphant war-yells."

" But," said Aston, " you have told us nothing regard-
ing his meeting with his brother."

" Oh," said De Ruyter, " it was truly fraternal. But
I had forgot, he is a dreamer, and has visions. Never re-
membering my own dreams, no wonder I should forget
friend Torra's. By Jove it is most miraculous, and de-
serves to be recorded. Thus saith Torra : —

ei ' In the town of the Maratti I seek, in every place, to
find my bad brother ; but I find him not. So I feel my
head and blood like fire. I kill all I find. I too wish to
die, but no one fights with me. All run away from Torra,
one man with nothing but a knife ; while they have swords,
and darts, and guns. Iron strikes me and hurts me not ;
guns wound not Torra.

186 ADVENTURES OF

u c When I come on board I am sick and hot, and lie
down on the hammock-nettings of the forecastle, but not
to sleep. I have too much pain to sleep. I lie down,
looking at the sea : and then I see my old father rise up
from the bottom, in a great fish shell, with his fishing-net
in his hand. He looks at me, and says, c Torra, my son ! r

ee e I try to answer, but cannot.

"' Then he says, c Thy mother, thy sisters, where are
they?'

ie * 1 try to say, they are slaves to the white men.

" e He understands me, and says, ' No, Torra, they are
free ; look here ! thou art a slave, my son, but they are
with me !' And I see them all three in the shell.

c: e Then he says, e Thy brother, where is he ? '

* c * I try to answer, c I know not ! ' when an old and
wrinkled white man, who lives in the dark clouds, comes
with a long spar of fire, and says, f Where is he ? '

" c My father shakes his fishing-net, and again says,
6 Where is he ? Torra, thou art a bad son, and a false
brother to thy sisters, not to send thy bad brother to the
evil spirit, who bids me cast my net for him ; and till I
catch him, we are to have no rest, no peace, condemned to
follow him ; and now I find he is in the ship with thee,
and he alone of all my blood can sleep. Torra hath for-
saken and forgotten the law of his father's land, blood for
blood!'

« < My father then throws his net again and again, and
the white demon of the cloud shakes his spear, calling on
the name of my brother, — Shrondoo.

" c I turn and look the other way, and see my brother,
as my father said, asleep. I go down on the deck ; I stand
over him ; and when 1 am certain it is he, I kill him. And
I look through the port on the waters, and see my father
catch his spirit in the net, and the white demon take it on
his spear. They all scream and clap their hands; the
shell sinks in the sea ; and the white demon is seen no
more ! '

" Such was Torra s vision — what think you of it ? I
promise you the fellow is in earnest, for he entreats me to

A YOUNGER SON. 187

let him go overboard to his father ; but I think the conch-
shell is sufficiently charged already/'

iC Poor fellow !" said Aston, " he has been hardly used,
and misfortune has extinguished what little intellect he
had."

" By Heaven ! " I exclaimed, ' c I don't know what you
call little ; the wisest of the ancients would have lost their
senses in such a case. As to killing his brother, if he had
slaughtered a myriad of such fellows, he ought to be re-
warded, not punished."

« Very true ; but men's prejudices," observed De Ruyter,
ec must influence the scales of justice. Our crew would
become mutinous, if I were to pardon Torra. His brother,
as the first-born, had his patriarchal rights, and might sell
all his kin and kind. The command of the father, though
but in a dream, might, on the other hand, justify Torra in
killing him ; but, as the father is not here to give evidence,
Torra's blood must now atone for that which he has shed."

<e Surely," I eagerly asked, " you don't intend it?"

" Surely I do not," was his reply ; " but we must
make a show as if we did, and use some occasion of letting
him escape when we get near land."

However, this was unnecessary ; for, two days after,
Torra going towards the bow of the vessel, handcuffed, and
with a sentinel guarding him, looked at the sea, cried, —
<( There he is, waiting for me ! J come, father ! " and
sprung over the bow, and the ship passed over him. It
was useless to make any attempt to save him, as the weight
of his manacles dragged him down like lead.

This poor fellow's story, and melancholy fate, made us
all sad for some time. Aston, who had a shade of a sailor's
faith in dreams and omens, was at some trouble, on our
arrival at the Isle of France, to find out if that part of
Torra's dream or vision, relating to the death of his mother
and sisters, had actually happened. There being a go-
vernment office, where the deaths of slaves were registered,
he discovered it not only verified, but, on comparing our
logbook with the register, that they had all died within
the four- and- twenty hours in which Torra had seen them

188 ADVENTURES OP

on the sea ; they having been drowned in a boat as they
were being conveyed to the Isle of Bourbon. I need not
add that Aston's faith, after this, was not to be shaken.

CHAPTER VII.

Whereat a narrow Flemish glass he took,
That since belonged to Admiral De Witt,
Admired it with a connoisseuring look,
And with the ripest claret crowned it j
And, ere the lively bead could burst or flit,
He turn'd it quickly, nimbly, upside down,
His mouth being held conveniently fit
To catch the treasure : " Best in all the town ! w
He said, smack'd his moist lips, and gave a pleasant frown.

Keats' MS.

We were in the west trade-wind, and scudded merrily along
in company with the corvette, having determined to run
into Port Bourbon, in the Mauritius, on the south-east
coast, as the English frigates were blockading the port on
the north-west. ec Port Bourbon," said De Ruyter, " is
the best to get into, being on the windward side, but dif-
ficult to get out of. However, it is a beautiful harbour,
and we shall have to lie out the north-west monsoon, which
is on the eve of commencing. Besides, we shall then be
nearer my home, and in quiet, as there are few ships and
little commerce in Port Bourbon, that being carried on to
leeward at Port Louis."

Having been now some days at sea, I thought of visiting
my little female captive; not that I had neglected her
hitherto, having given her my own, comparatively, com-
fortable cabin, and ordered the good old Rais to find out
those of her father's tribe, or followers, on board. Besides,
I sent him, privileged by his age and rank, to see her, talk
to her, and assure her she should want nothing, and that
all her wishes should be granted. He told me that three
women, who had been with her in her father's ship, were
already with her ; that he had collected and given them
what articles they wanted, and that in a few days she would

A YOUNGER SOX. 189

be better. Indeed the old Rais, in respect of her father's
having been, not only an Arab, but a schaich, of a tribe in
the Persian Gulf, near his own country., had anticipated -all
my wishes. He said, i( I must do the same for her as for
my own child ; for we are all brothers."

De Ruyter, who heard our conversation, as he stood by?
began to talk with the Rais, addressing him by the name
of " Father ; " for so he called him, the commander of his
Arabs, and one who had been long with him. He con-
sulted the Rais on every point connected with his men, and
never opposed the fulfilment of their customs. On his
secret expeditions to the English ports, the entire com-
mand, in appearance, devolved on the old Arab, while De
Ruyter took the character of a merchant, Parsee, Arme-
nian, or American — they were all the same to him, as
occasion served. " I have been telling this youngster of
mine, Father," said he, " that the Arab girl is now law-
fully his wife, in the most sacred manner, according to the
customs of your country. Is it not so ? Inform him."

The old Rais had heard all the particulars from the men
present at the father's death, and said, " Most assuredly,
malik ; who can doubt it ? Yet strange it sounded in my
ears when I was told it. It is the first time, old as I am,
that I ever heard of an Arab schaich, whose generations
are countless as the grains of sand on the great desert,
giving his daughter, and mingling the blood of the ances-
tors of the human race with one of the infidels of a country,
so newly discovered, that our fathers knew not of it, nor
could her father have heard of its existence ; a Yaoor I"

" Bah ! " replied De Ruyter. " Why, the father knew
him for an Arab, to be sure. What else ? Does he look
like a Christian ? Has he not the Koran in his cabin ?
Come," (addressing me,) " say your Namaz"

<c Wise are you, malik," said the Rais ; " that is the
truth. It is not strange her father should have so thought ;
and I am an ignorant man if his father was not an Arab
born, or Arab descended ; for I never saw any of your
western people sun- dyed and featured like this boy. He
is honest and brave, loves our people, fights with our
weapons, and uses our customs. You see nature will break

1.90 ADVENTURES OF

out. Now that he has, by the blessing of Mahomet, our
Holy Prophet, an Arab wife, I hope he will find out the
tribe of his ancestors ; and not, like unto his foolish father,
go from his own country, to dwell on white rocks in the
sea."

This was spoken so seriously, and De Ruyter, checking
his ready laugh, conversed so learnedly on the subject, that
I began to entertain doubts of my own identity.

Moreover the Rais argued that the father had joined our
hands, when under the shadow of death ; at which period,
though distant things become indistinct, things near are
miraculously unfolded, when connected with the secrets of
the other world, which, to us living, are visionary as spectres
in a dream, but, when flitting between life and death, are
made distinct and clear. " Therefore," said he, (i her
father could not have been deceived in that moment. Ke
knew into whose hands he was giving his daughter, the
hopes of his house, and the care of his children."

" What children ? " inquired Aston ; cc has he other
children ? "

Already I began to think in what a predicament 1 was
placed ; — wife, children, and Heaven knew what else !

" Children ! " said the Rais ; ' ' oh, yes ! but not many.
For he was a brave and desperate warrior ; and most of
his tribe have been cut off in wars with people like these
Maratti, who pillaged his village, and killed them almost
alL Now he has not more than twenty or thirty."

£" Enough too ln exclaimed Aston.

i: I think quite enough," added De Ruyter, mimicking
Louis, — iC don't you ?"

I suppose I looked little animated at this discourse, now
that I began to find it in earnest ; and, perhaps, as chap-
fallen as one of Louis's lively turtle, after his throat is cut.
However, I was a little comforted by discovering that his
children were not of his body, they having been removed
by the creeses of his enemies, but his tribe — as the Rais
called all the Arabs on board his children ; sometimes,
when he was pleased, including De Ruyter and myself.
De Ruyter assured me, on his honour, casting jesting aside,
that, strictly speaking, every thing the old Rais had said

A YOUNGER SON. ]Ql

was true as the Koran. " But then/' he added, " the
Koran is nothing to you, and the Arab law is not yours."

" True ; but how will it affect her ?" I inquired.

" Only that, as her father affianced her to you, she can
marry no one else. From duty, therefore, as well as hu-
manity, you must provide for her, and convey her, with
her Arabs, to her own country. I know you have feeling
as well as honour, and that, whatever course you are
destined to steer, they will never quit the helm. I never
have, nor ever will, my dear boy, thrust officious counsel
down your throat, which, like iron, is only to be digested
by the power of an ostrich's stomach. Besides, you are
not one of those who arrogate exclusively to themselves,
their sect, or country, (as too many of your countrymen
do,) all the good and virtue under the sun. The light is
not less bright, because unobscured by what is falsely
called civilisation, on the sands of these wild children of
the desert. Though they are not warmed and cooled by
the same summer and winter, as old Shylock says, as Jews
and Christians are, yet if you prick them, they bleed, —
and so forth. You understand me. So, come down, and
having discussed this, let us discuss a cup of claret ; the
making of which, and of barbers, dancers, fiddlers^ cooks,
pimps, and courtesans, are the only real benefits France
has conferred on the world, as Voltaire has fully proved in
his f Lettre aux Welches/ If any Frenchman expects to
go to heaven, it must be by virtue of one of these pleas
alone."

Aston afterwards inquired of me what I intended doing
in this affair. (C Doing ! " I replied ; " why, did you not
hear ? — it is all ready done, man."

"What done?"

(i Why, I am married, — -without banns, or babbling
about the business. It is but like the first shock in bathing;
the timid suffer most by creeping in by degrees ; the bold,
by plunging in head foremost, hardly feel it. I am no
stickler. If I must go in, give me deep water, and a height
to leap from ; — then I shall neither cut my foot, nor feel
the shock."

192 ADVENTURES OF

ce But consider, my lad, she is but a baby ; and you
have scarcely seen her."

ci Well, what Arab does till after he is married ? **

" How can you take her home ? You don't intend
passing all your life with Arabs ?"

« Why not ? I have no home. Old father Rais says
this is my country ; and I like it very well, — I like the
sun better than snow. Aston ! don't be puckering up your
face, like a libidinous parson in the pulpit, exhorting his
parishioners against the sin of the flesh and the devil.
Come, shake those wrinkles out with claret. Have you not
heard this is my wedding-day ? Let us spend it in re-
joicings ! I hate preaching, and like wine."

So with callians, sheroots, and claret we passed the
time; De Ruyter and Aston bantering me about my novel
marriage. My spirits were too good to be dashed by such
a trifle, as I then thought marriage. When Louis heard
of it, he said, ce I had a frow too once ; but she was never
good for much. When I went to sea, she drank all my
gin. I never could keep a drop of good skiedam in the
house. I did not like that ; — would you ? She grew
very big, and every one said she was with child ; but I
knew, if she had any thing, it must be young kegs of Hol-
lands. Afterwards the doctors thought the same ; for they
— what they call — tapped her many times. But she loved
the liquor too much to let it out, — they got nothing but
water. This I could not have believed — would you ?
For I never saw her touch water in my life ; she could not
abide the sight of it, and said it gave her a cold in the
stomach. So I left her, and went to sea, — I knew she'd
not follow me on the water ; and she was sad, and sick,
and melancholy, from grief, poor woman ! — because she
got no more gin. I took all with me."

A YOUNGER SON. 1Q3

CHAPTER VIII.

For your gaping gulf and your gullet wide,

The ravine is ready on every side 3

Their boiled meat, and roast meat, and meat from the coal.

You may chop it, and tear it, and mash it. Shelley.

Van Scolpvelt then came down, with the list of sick and
wounded. His hands were so full of business, that we
seldom saw him, — except his head, which he occasionally
shoved up the hatchway for air, as a grampus does his
above the water. He expounded to us the law regarding
murderers, whose bodies, in all civilised countries, were
given for dissection ; therefore, he continued, by bene-
fiting science, they did a great deal more good than evil in
the world, and that it was a pity so few murders were
committed. Then he accused us of a conspiracy to para-
lyse the efforts of scientific men, not only by opposing
amputation, but by conniving at a felonious fraud in de-
priving him of a post-mortem dissection. ce Had you
acted," said he, (( in a summary manner, which you do
on other occasions, with Torra, — who was a very fine
subject, — you would have hanged him instantly, and given
me his body. I thought he was an honest man ; but find
him, like every one else, conspiring to cheat the doctor, —
which he has done by throwing himself away to the fishes,
when he was my lawful perquisite/'

With a glass out of Louis's bottle, he returned to his
patients. "Ah!" said Louis, "if I did not see him
drink this now and then, and smoke his pipe, Id not be-
lieve him a live man. But any man may live on this/'
— (holding up the bottle), — " could not you ? For it
is like oil and spirit at once ; the one keeps the body, the
other the soul ; — don't they ? "

" Yes, with the addition of a turtle, now and then, I
think I might. Do you think, Louis, they have turtle in
heaven ? "

" I am positive they have," was his reply ; " or who
0

19^ ADVENTURES OF

would wish to go there ? — would you ? It is no paradise
without turtle ; — is it ? Then there is plenty of water
in the moon, or where does the rain come from? — so
there must he gin there as well, to keep the damp out."

I went on deck to keep the first watch. From Louis
and turtle my thoughts reverted to my own little turtle-
dove in her cage. Then, only looking at the sunny side
of things, all was bright. I seemed to expand in bulk
and stature. My thoughts ran nearly in the same channel
with those of Alnaschar, the prattling barber's brother, the
fabled glass-merchant, of imaginative renown ; for, like
him, my fancy ran wild. I determined to be, at first, a
kind and loving husband, then austere and severe, or kind
and cruel by turns. Certainly, though I thought of every
thing the most preposterous, not a single ray of light, use.
ful or rational, shone on my midnight reveries. The
gong sounded twelve ; I was relieved from duty. The
cares of married life not once disturbed my sleep. I
wonder now I slept so soundly.

At last I was awakened by Van's shaking my leg, I
sprung up in an instant, stamping it on the ground, in fear
that he had been operating on it in my sleep. " What 's
the matter, Van ? "

" What are you talking about ? One of the prisoners,
an Arab, is dying. He wants to see you."

I dashed my head into a bucket of salt water, and fol-
lowed the doctor. Notwithstanding I met Louis in the
way, with a hot turtle-steak, which he urged me to eat
first, as it was hazardous to go into the sick berth with an
empty stomach, down I went : the man, who was badly
wounded, only wanted to tell me to be kind to his father's
child ; to let him see her before he died, in order that he
might take any message to her father, with whom he
should soon be again, for he saw the blue angel of death
hovering over him, in haste to spring aloft ; to urge me to
be a father to his two wives and five children, and to tell
them they must, Ishallah ! (please God !) continue their
war for ever with the Maratti, because, whilst one re-
mained alive, their father's spirit would be kept out of the
heavens ; and lastly; to see him put into the sea with all

A YOUNGER SOX. 195

the customary rites of his country, net allowing that white
Indian with his long knife, pointing to Van Seoipvelt, .to
scalp him, or cut him. " For/' said he, " if he cut any
thing away from me here to eat it, I am no more fit for a
warrior in the other land/'

Van gathered up his visage into a compound of horror^
astonishment, and ferocity, and growled and snarled like a
hyena. I believe the fear of Van Seoipvelt hastened the
Arab's spirit, which, by the glassiness of his eye, was
already on the wing ; for it took flight, wrhile I was endea-
vouring to appease the doctor's wrath.

I bade his Arab comrades take charge of the body.
They erected a canvass berth, placed it within, and re-
peated the same ceremonies I have before narrated — only
that now I was obliged to be an actor in their mys-
teries.

Here was I transformed, as by magic, from a friend-
less, outcast, reckless boy of the West, without tie or home,
into sea Schaich, Arab, Mussulman — married ! To give
some idea of how much these transitions (at least the last,
which governed the rest) weighed on my mind, I should
not have known my wife from any other girl or woman.
I had been so occupied with the father, and her head and
face having been, for the most part, veiled, that I had not
seen, or observed her features. I had not even yet in-
quired her name. It is true I had a Koran ; but I knew
not where was my adopted country.

The first step I took was, I then thought, and think
still, the right one — to obtain information regarding the
lady. I therefore ascertained, to begin in a business-like
way, that her name was Zela. That, engraved on my
memory then in faint characters, will be found deeply,
indelibly impressed on my heart wThen I die. Should any
curious Van Seoipvelt desire to pry into my body, I freely
give him leave, but more readily to Van himself, should
he then live, to show him that I have not that unmeasured
hatred of science, with which he has so often taxed me.
He shall find, annexed to my last testament, a codicil, in
which I have expressly set down that my body shall be
sent to Amsterdam (where he was when I last heard ef
o 2

196 ADVENTURES OF

him); conserved in a hogshead of right skedam — the body
for the scientific Van Scolpvelt, the fluid for honest Louis's
frow, if recovered from her dropsy.

After I had breakfasted, and fulfilled the injunctions of
the dying Arab, by witnessing the consignment of his body
to the deep, my thoughts again veered round to the right
point of the compass — my virgin bride. I was schooled
into the proper guttural ..pronunciation of her name ; no
easy task, for I was compelled to repeat the Z a hundred
times, ere the old duenna who tutored me was satisfied
with its hissing aspiration. Then she proceeded to im-
press on my memory ten thousand ceremonies and cautions
to be used ; I was not to touch the lady's veil, or person,
or garments, or talk too much, or ask questions, or stay
too long. For the lady Zela's thoughts were communing
with her father's spirit ; all her love was dead with him ;
her eyes, which outshone the stars when she was happy,
were now lustreless as her dead father's ; her face, fairer
than the moon, was now darkened by the clouds of grief ;
her lips, redder than henna, were pale with sorrow ; all
her loveliness was under eclipse, for tears had been her
only food, and peace and sleep had fled her pillow, since
her father's spirit had gone away, and left her alone
in the world. She then added, ee Oh ! stranger, be
good to her, and all good will be yours in possessing
her!"

CHAPTER IX.

She like a moon in wane,
Faded before him, cower'd, nor could restrain
Her fearful sobs, self- folding like a flower
That faints into itself at evening hour Keats.

This ring ******

'Tis chosen, I hear, from Hymen's jewelry. Keats's MS.

She went to prepare the lady Zela, and, had I been a hot
and impatient lover, she left me time to cool. Possibly

A YOUNGER SON. 197

the very thought that I was not going to woo, but was
already fast wedded, helped to make the hour and a half,
before she returned, appear neither more nor less than
ninety minutes. Nor did I make any pretty invocations
to Time, with leaden or swallow wings. It might be
that about this time of the day, I had a particular relish
for smoking my callian, and sipping my coffee. I have
never quitted this vice, or rather virtue ; for, at this very
time, I am as surly, if called away in the morning ere I
have had my pipe and coffee, as a judge, when a jury finds
a verdict according to their conscience, and against his
summing up ; or, as a bull -dog with his bone, when an
impudent cur offers to knab it ; or as a woman, detecting
her wearied husband in the act of moving her new bonnet
off the sofa to repose himself.

I sat inhaling the last whiff of the fragrant tombacae of
Shiraz, through rose-water from Benares. I filled my
lungs with a delicious cloud, which seemed to circulate
throughout my body ; and I sent it forth again like a jet
of water, or frankincense burning from an altar, or from
a swinging chalice, or like the spiral wreath from a cottage
chimney, — for I was comparing it to all these ; and so
intently wrapt in watching and admiring the rainbow-like
tints, borrowed from the sun, glittering upon the vapour,
as I eked it out from my compressed lips and nostrils, with
my cheeks swollen like a trumpeter's, that I had not seen
the old Arab woman return. .1 suppose her beauties too
were, like the moon, under a cloud, or in an eclipse ; for
her dark figure startled me, and I thought of the tale of
the fisherman, and that the smoke had condensed itself
into a black witch. She informed me that the lady Zela
had been awaiting me with coffee and sweatmeats, till the
one was cold, and the other turned sour,

" No one has been here," I replied, " to tell me she
was ready.''

She looked sour enough to have spoilt the sweatmeats
at a glanee, as she said querulously, u I have been stand-
ing here so long, that, see — my feet are grown to the
wood ! "

I laughed ; for she was so far right that the sun and
o 3

];}S ADVENTURES OF

heat of her foot had melted the pitch ; and she had some
difficulty, as the vessel was heeling over, to keep her ba-
lance, while she disengaged her hoof. Saying all I could
to soften her, down we went together.

The cabin door was opened by a little Malayan slave
girl, from the coast of Malabar, whom I had sent as my
first gift, and I entered. The lady mine was seated cross-
legged on a low couch, so shrouded and enveloped in white
drapery, the mourning of her country, that I could dis-
tinguish nothing of those wondrous beauties the old Arab
woman had talked of. On my entrance I thought her
one of those marble figures I had heard of in Egyptian
temples ; but I found she was alive. Her feet were bare ;
she rose and placed them in embroidered slippers, which
lay on the deck of the cabin ; she took my hand, put it
to her forehead, then to her lips : I entreated her to be
seated. She resumed her position, and remained motion-
less, her arms drooping listlessly down; her little rosy
feet nestled under her, like tiny birds under the mother's
wing. Her hair, the only part now visible, covered her
like a jet black cloud. I had felt the pressure of her tre-
mulous lips ; and imagination, or perhaps some faint out-
line which fancy had left graved on my hand, pictured
her mouth exquisitely soft and small, — (I loathe a large
and hard one) ; and I think now, this silent pressure wove
the first link of that diamond chain which time nor use
could ever break or wear away. I seemed entranced. We
both sat silent ; and I felt it a relief when the old Arab
woman returned with coffee, and mangastene and guava
jelly. She again rose, which I would have prevented, but
the old woman signed me to sit still. She took a minute
cup, in a filagree silver stand, and presented it to me.
I was so intently gazing on her tapering, delicately formed
fingers, that I upset tfre coffee, and, putting the cup to
my mouth, was going to swallow that ; which indeed, as
it was not bigger than the spicy shell of mace that holds
the nutmeg, I might have done without choking. The
old woman told me afterwards this was a bad omen. She
then presented the conserves ; and, returning the stand to
the woman, resumed her seat.

A YOUNGER SON. 199

Taking from ray hand a ring of gold, with an Arabic
inscription, and hooped with two circles of camel's hair,
the same her expiring father had placed on my ringer, I
held it towards her. The low and suppressed moans she
made on my entrance hroke out into sobs, so violent that
I could see her loose vest agitated by the beating of her
heart. I was about to remove this object, which awakened
such painful remembrances, when she grasped it, pressed
it to her lips, and wept over it some time. The woman
then said something to her ; and, without the guidance of
her eyes, she again put forth her tapering little ringers,
and replaced the ring. It was indeed the antique signet
of her father's tribe ; and, like the seal of princes, it made
right wrong, or wrong right, and gave, and took away, and
made, and unmade laws, obeying the will of its wearer.
She put it on the fore finger of my right hand ; and again
pressed my hand to her head and lips.

Upon this I took a ring I had selected from De Ruyter's
store of baubles ; it was a deep ruby, of the shape and
size of a wild grape, hooped and massy with virgin gold,
and, by its size, seemed to have been worn by a fairy.
Gently disengaging her hand from the drapery as it lay
montionless by her side, I placed this ring on the fore
finger of her right hand ; — the old woman smiled. Then
I put her little palm to my lips, and repeatedly kissed it ;
— the old woman's brow darkened, or rather the wrinkles
on her brow deepened, for her colour, by time and the
sun, was fixed into an indelible bronze. However, taking
the hint, I let go the hand, and it dropped by her side.

This interchange of rings was a definite acknowledg-
ment of our union. I now asked the lady if I could do
any thing to add to her comfort on board the ship. I
told her I had collected and released all I could find of
the tribe of her father ; that they should be kindly at-
tended to ; that I was a stranger, and ignorant of many
of their customs, entreating that she would direct me ;
that our Rais was a good man, and would love her like
a father. Ker sobs now became more violent. Catching
the infection of melancholy, I put my hand to my heart,
and said, " Dear sister, moderate your grief. Command
o 4

200 ADVENTURES OF

me in all things ; for am I not your happy slave ? " She
did nothing hut weep, and I withdrew.

CHAPTER X.

The simplest flowers
In the world's herbal ; — this fair lily blanch 'd,
Still with the dews of piety ; this meeK lady
Here sitting, like an angel newly shent,
Who veils his snowy wings and grows all pale. Keats's MS.

Thus passed my first visit, and many successive ones. It
was long ere I heard the music of her voice. I thought
she was mute as well as motionless ; but, distracted by the
busy turmoil of our now crowded vessel, my visits to the
silent lady were not irksome. I culled every thing I thought
would amuse or please her ; made strict search, amidst the
heaps of plunder we had taken from the Maratti, for every
thing belonging to her father, and his people, which was
restored; and I was unwearied in attempts to win her regard.
Yet so long she remained insensible, that I thought I might
as well have worshipped a mummy from the pyramids ;
and had not my impatience been listened to, and soothed,
by the kind-hearted Aston, I should have expressed my dis-
satisfaction to the lady herself, and totally have withdrawn
from her, as my presence seemed offensive.

Perhaps that would have been no easy task. For though
I could never interchange speech with Zela, the old Arab
woman was not so reserved. She would stop in the midst
of every errand, as she crossed the deck, and talk of nothing
but her lady Zela. At first I cursed her garrulity, as my
legs grew weary with standing; I thought she would have
talked them off, for nothing would induce her to be seated.
No ! she must not sit in the presence of her malik; besides,
her mistress was waiting for water, coffee, sweetmeats, or
something else, Methought her mistress must be won-
•derous patient for the moon wasted ere her discourse con-
cluded,

A YOUNGER SON. 201

At last she instilled into me hopes that Zela was not in-
sensible of my kindness ; that she said I was very good,
. — I must be, for her people said so ; that it was a pity I
spoke her language so imperfectly, and was a stranger of a
far distant tribe ; she was sorry the great kala panee (black
water) was between our fathers' lands ; but I was gentle,
kind, beautiful as a zebra, and she liked to hear my voice.

This delicious poison relumed my expiring hopes ; the
dark old woman grew bright and entertaining, and her
harsh voice sounded sweet. My night watches seemed
miraculously diminished. Yet I had seen no more of Zela
than her foot and head ; the tone of her voice I was as yet
a stranger to.

How then could I love her ? I had never felt, or seen,
or dreamt of the strange power of love. Indeed I know
not when, or why, or where, or how he found entrance
even in my thoughts. It appeared to me I was only ful-
filling a duty, sacred from its having been laid on me by
the impressive energy of a dying parent, consigning to me,
with his last breath, his friendless child. In the crystal
purity of youth, this was the first impressive scene, in which
I had been the principal actor, in which the emphatic appeal
wras made to the good feelings of my heart, a sealed foun-
tain, then broken ; and pity, and sorrow, and now love were
flowing from it like a swollen torrent, which bears down all
before it. The poor little captive bird was building her
nest in my bosom's cove, whilst I thought her quietly caged
in my cabin below. My visits grew longer and more fre-
quent. I retained her passive hand in mine, till I felt its
warmth restored, and fancied it glowing with mine. The
very air about her seemed to grow heavy with fragrant
odour. Even the touch of her insensible hair, more grace-
ful than the willow's pendent boughs, as it kissed my cheek,
filled my soul with passion. All my senses seemed ex-
quisitely refined, and a world of new thoughts and delicate
fancies to have birth within me. As I at last caught the
full radiant brightness of her large dark eye, my limbs shook,
my voice trembled, and my heart beat convulsively, and
fast. Holding her hand, I gazed in speechless eestacy*
Whether she observed, I knowT not j but she removed her

202 ADVENTURES OF

hand, and veiled the brightness of her eyes. It was enough ;
they had thrilled through me, and the fire was inextin-
guishable. She had murmured some words in a broken voice,
which buzzed in my ears like a honeyed bee's, or like the
warbling of the humming-bird, that lives in the cinnamon
groves, and her breath was sweeter than the trees on which
it lives. My senses ached with the intensity of the new
world of delight which opened to me.

And love was thus ignited in my breast, pure, ardent,
deep, and imperishable. Zela, from that day, was the star
I was destined to worship ; the deity at whose altar I was
to offer up all the fragrant incense of my first virgin affec-
tions, feelings, and passions. Nor did ever saintly votary
dedicate himself to his god with intenser devotion than I
consecrated my heart to Zela. When dull mortality returns
to dust, when the spirit bursts its charnel- vault, and wings
its way, like a dove, it will find no resting-place, or olive
branch of peace, till reunited with Zela's ; then will they
blend, two sunbeams together, shining onward to eternity.

CHAPTER XL

And then he went on shore without delay,

Having no custom-house nor quarantine
To ask him awkward questions on the way,

About the times and place where he had been :
He left his ship to be hove down next day,

With orders to the people to careen,
So that all hands were busy beyond measure,
In getting out goods, ballast, guns, and treasure. Byron.

No other circumstance, of any importance, dwells on my
mind during this eventful cruise. We were now in the
latitude of the Mauritius, thirty -two leagues N.W. of the
Isle of Bourbon. The Mauritius was first called by the
Portuguese, on their visit in 1521, Swan Island, from being
a favourite resort of that bird. The grasping Dutch were
the first to lay their hands on it, yet not till long after,

A YOUNGER SON. 203

somewhere about 1600. They named it the Mauritius,
complimenting^ in this appellation, the admiral of the
United Provinces. The French, as I have already related,
succeeded them, and called it the Isle of France; and it
was the rallying point and rendezvous of all their cruisers.
Nearly in the track of the company's homeward and outward
bound Indian fleets, of the departure of which care was
taken to procure early intelligence, they sent their ships of
war to cruise for them in the latitudes of their usual route.
But it was from private ships of war, with commissions of
lettres de marque, that the English merchant-fleet princi-
pally suffered. Against the large French ships they were
protected by efficient convoy of their own men-of-war; but
the smaller, fast-sailing French cruisers, filled with desperate
adventurers, hung round their fleets, like the wandering
Arabs on the desert round a caravan ; while the English
men-of-war were withheld from pursuing them, fearful of
losing sight of the merchantmen, and of their being attacked
by others in their absence. The Frenchmen rarely ventured
near them during the day, or when it was fine weather,
unless supported by some of their own frigates, following
them in the hope of cutting off stragglers. In bad weather,
daring dark nights, they deceived them, by making false
signals to lure them off; or during the heavy and sudden
squalls which prevail in those latitudes, in the event of any
accident happening, such as losing a mast, or, what fre-
quently was the case, losing sight of their convoy, they
were certain of attack from one or more of these French
privateers. But being all well armed, and very large ships,
they sometimes succeeded in defending themselves, not only
from the private ships of war, but, on more than one oc-
casion, they gallantly beat off a French squadron.

The French found the Mauritius of essential import-
ance; enabling them to harass the English commerce, and
to preserve a footing in India. They spared no expense in
fortifying it ; and, to confess the truth, they were not back-
ward in improving it, by rendering it useful and productive.
They introduced, and cultivated with success, most of the
spices and fruits of India, with rice, and all sorts of corn
from Bourbon, Cochin China, and Madagascar. But the

204 ADVENTURES OF

island being small, not more than nineteen leagues in cir-
cumference, of course all this was on a proportionally limited
scale. The Dutch, by their neglect, had allowed the most
valuable port, on the N.W. coast, to be choked with their
own filth, and mud and stones washed down by the torrents
from the mountains rising close to it. The French, under
a clever and enterprising governor, cleared this harbour,
built a good wall, and made a superb basin for their ships
of war, sheltered from all winds, which are here occasion-
ally terrific.

We made the island of Bourbon, then hauled up to the
Mauritius, which we soon after got sight of. This island
is of an oval form, and that part we now coasted, on the
N. W., was grand and rugged, with occasional verdant cover.
De Ruyter observed that this side of it had been turned
topsyturvy by the agency of volcanoes ; and that it was
thought, by observers in these matters, to have been for-
merly united with the Isle of Bourbon, but torn asunder
by the convulsion of internal fire. We saw many huge
arched caverns, into which the sea was rolling with a hollow,
thundering voice. Grey and ragged fragments of calcined
rocks were piled on each other in fantastic disorder. The
land then rose gradually from the cliffs to the centre of the
island, terminating in a mountain, which rose like a dome.
De Ruyter told us this was an elevated plain, thirteen
hundred feet above the sea ; and though, from this side, it
appeared a precipitous mpuntain, on the other side, at Port
St. Louis, the ascent was so gradual, that a horse might
gallop up nearly to the the summit, which was pointed
like a sugar-loaf, called Piton du milieu, and surrounded by
a plain. We saw seven other mountains, looking like seven
giants seated in conference. Many low capes stretched out
into the sea, and, winding their rocky roots yet farther,
formed beautiful bays, with white sandy beaches, and nar-
row valleys, often intersected by streams or rivers, verdant
and wooded, and thickly set with shrubs and flowers.

As Aston and myself stood watching these with our
glasses, I said, " How quiet and exquisitely beautiful is
that ! Oh let us go and dwell there ! " Then, as that shut
in, and another opened far more beautiful, -and then another.

A YOUNGER SON. 905

and another still, 1 reiterated the same exclamation. We
all three loved nature, and De Ruyter took delight in point-
ing out to us every minute change in the scenery. u Surely,"
I cried, "" this island is a paradise of the Eastern poets !
Who but a fool, once on this land, would leave it ? Oh let
us forsake the never-certain ocean, which, with its treach-
erous smiles, lures us on to sickness, disappointment, pain,
and death ! "

Aston was not less delighted than myself; and there
was a willing alacrity and lightness in the movements of
all on board. Joy spread in every countenance, every
source of discontent was forgotten, and all was union and
harmony. As we let the anchor go, the men flew aloft
like birds, and the sails were furled in an instant. Canoes
almost sinking with their cargoes of fresh fish, fruit, and
vegetables, were hovering round us.

The pleasure which filled my heart was augmented to
overflowing by the dear presence of my little eastern fairy
Zela, who, yielding to my earnest prayers, had allowed
me to lead her on deck. As the gentle air waved her
light gauzy robes aside, or pressed them closer to her,
played with her hair, and showed her youthful form,
which seemed almost suspended in its own lightness, Aston
gazed at her with astonishment, and compared . her to
a young fawn by the side of a stag. De Ruyter, who
spoke her language perfectly, took her hand, but was so
surprised at her beauty, that it was some time before he
could utter a word, though she was then pallid and wan,
and her lips colourless. He talked to her in his most
soothing manner ; then, turning to me, said, " This
is some little eastern sprite, too delicate and frail to be
touched by human hands ! I may now congratulate you
with all my heart ; nor lives there a man so cold as not
to envy your good fortune. By Heaven ! I thought you
were making a sacrifice, and I find you have a jewel,
which kings, if they had hearts, would give their crowns
to possess ! Knowing this, if you do not treasure her as
such, may happiness forsake you for ever ! Fortune can
can never again give any thing so far above comparison."

She looked round like a frighted antelope, with wonder

206 ADVENTURES OF

at finding herself surrounded by so many strangers, all
gazing on her; and her face was crimsoned like the
morning clouds. She would have returned below, but her
hand was shackled in mine. I sent for a carpet and
cushions, and she sat down on deck, encircled with
women.

CHAPTER XII.

Worse than a bloody hand is a hard heart. Shelley.

Thou bitter mischief, venomous, bad priest I Keats's MS.

De Ruyter went onboard the corvette, to tell her captain
that the English frigates had left their blockade of the
leeward port. This was occasioned by the loss of their
men and boats, and in order to return to Madras before
the S.W. monsoon set in. Besides, as the homeward-
bound fleet was supposed to have passed the latitudes of
these islands, their object in blockading was effected. It
was then determined that the corvette, after getting a sup-
ply of water and fresh provisions, was to go round to Port
St. Louis ; and that De Ruyter, by crossing over land,
was to meet the captain there, and give their despatches
to the French general commanding.

This done, he returned on board, when we sent all our
prisoners and wounded on board the corvette, and De
Ruyter went on shore to provide accommodations for his
own sick, and procure supplies. The next morning he
left us for the town and port of St. Louis. He gave me
directions what to do in his absence, and promised to be
with us at latest in three days. We shook hands and
parted.

It was arranged that when the grab was cleared, we
should lay her up, and proceed to De Ruyter 's country
house ; he possessed a considerable estate in the interior
of the island.

A YOUNGER SON. 207

It is worthy of remark that, regarding climate, this
island has a peculiarity I never remember to have found
in any other in India. Other islands are comparatively
cool and pleasant on the coasts, and close and unhealthy
in the interior, unless on the heights. Here it is reversed :
the entire coast is so scorchingly hot, and the air so bad,
that at Port St. Louis, and other places round, no one
dares venture out in the daytime during six months of
the year, as he may be almost certain of having a sun-
stroke, which occasions a brain-fever, the malignant fever,
cholera morbus, or dysentery ; while, at the same period,
in the interior, particularly on the windward side, the air
is temperate and salubrious. For six months in the year,
from November to April, the town of St. Louis is insuf-
ferably and noxiously hot; scarcely any one but the
slaves could be induced to remain there, the free inhabit-
ants departing for the interior. Then again, the dry
months at Port St. Louis are the rainy ones in the central
parts ; and whilst the fiercest hurricanes are raging on
the coast, a few miles inland all is calm and sunshine.
I have repeatedly witnessed this ; and it is strange in so
small an island.

With a nature ardent, active, and enterprising, my soul
was in what I undertook, and with unwearied diligence I
executed De Ruyter's behests* Watching and toil were
to me pleasure ; for my body was strong, and my spirits
winged. Magazines of spars, planks, and matting were
speedily erected on the shore ; every article not pertaining
to the vessel was landed and daily sent round on the
backs of mules, asses, and slaves — (the last, 1 sha<me to
say, were the chief animals of burthen on the island) —
and transported, with proper precautions, to the town of
Port St. Louis.

De Ruyter had made great exertions and sacrifices in
the importation of buffaloes and asses, to supersede the
use of slaves, in the degrading and painful toil of bearing
burthens in a climate of almost insufferable heat. But the
cold indifference with which men, solely devoted to mer-
cenary pursuits, treated his humane propositions, made it
up-hill work. These heartless traffickers could neither see

^208 ADVENTURES OF

nor hear of any plan, except such as tended to their own
immediate profit. With them the common organs of
nature became brutalised ; their views of things were
narrowed into the circumference of actual sight ; and as
the wasp, with an eye like a lens, magnifying into bulk the
minutest objects within an inch of its optics, cannot dis-
tinguish, at the distance of a yard, a wall from a wall-
flower, so was it with these fellows. There was no use in
talking of to-morrow, of what could be then done with
mules and buffaloes, because with slaves they could realise
a profit to-day. As to human suffering, they not being
touched with human feeling, how could that influence
them ? (C Is that the law ? — I cannot find it, 'tis not in
my bond," — is the sum of their ready reply to the advo-
cates of humanity. To every appeal they are deaf as cro-
codiles ; and while you are talking of humanity, they will
lash, or order to be goaded, the bare and festered back of
an overloaded female slave, her tender nature one animated
mass of ulcers and cancers, half consumed alive by flies
and maggots, antedating their destined prey. Then,
what the free and happy most fear — death — is her only
hope and refuge, and comes like a bridegroom ; when the
corrupted mass is cast uncoffined into the sea, or in a
ditch, where the dog-fish, or the wild dog, famishing, will
turn from it, — the worms' leavings. Thus it is with her,
and with harder and more enduring man. I have seen
their spines knotted as a pine tree, and their skins as scaled
and callous, with the flesh cracked into chasms, from
which blood oozed out like gum, as hundreds of them,
poor wretches ! underwent their daily toil in the dock-
yard at Port St. Louis, under a sun so scorching, that •
their task -masters, shaded, sheltered, and reclining, have
gasped as from suffocation ; and. when, from the mere
exertion of moving a few yards, at a snail's pace, to give
commands; their bodies have reeked with moisture, and
larded the earth, like a horse's after a race in July. The
pity and pain I felt at the sight of these poor slaves, could
only be equalled by the deep and overwhelming damnation
I invoked on the heads of their inhuman oppressors, them
and their kind for ever ! Surely monsters like these are

A YOUNGER SON. 21K)

annihilated, — they cannot be immortal ! Yet they should
be so, with an eternity to torture them in, They should
have justice and their bond ; and what they have done
to others should be done to them ; and I defy the inven-
tion of hell's fabled demons to be more cunning in cruelty
than themselves.

This barbarous treatment of the slaves, though not to
the extent which I afterwards witnessed on the other side
of the island, impelled me on, if a spur was wanting, to
despatch my business in Port Bourbon, that I might has-
ten to the secluded, wild, and wooded hill, De Ruyter had
pointed out as the place of his residence. There, I knew,
where he had power, pain and oppression would be sof-
tened, if not driven away altogether.

At the appointed period De Ruyter returned. Active
and energetic as he was in all he did, he was surprised
at our expedition. The burthened hull and lofty-rigged
vessel, which, a few days before, had come into the port
half buried by her weight, with clouds of canvass on her,
now floated as light as a sea-bird sleeping, her canvass
unbent, masts and yards struck, dismantled, and moored
close to the shore.

De Ruyter informed Aston that he had obtained per-
mission for himself, and the four men belonging to the
frigate, whom we had kept on board, to remain with him,
on his parole for himself and them.

We were discoursing of the slaves when he came in.
He told us this tale, in his pithy and abrupt manner :
Ci Two days ago I went to the door-way (for I never ven-
ture farther) of a church they were consecrating, to seek
for a slave-dealer, with whom I had business. He is a
cruel villain, but a punctilious, sanctimonious, and sour
church-goer ; a fellow who, if there remained but one
man besides himself in the island, and if their faiths dif-
fered but in the breadth of a hair, would, by force or
stratagem, stake or burn him. You shall hear : the
church, flagged with white pavement, was blotted by half
a score of black priests. There was a mass of people to
see the ceremony ; and these priests looked like the
smutted ears bound up with a sheaf of corn. I was going

210 ADVENTURES OP

a way^ for I grew sick, from the filthy compound smell of
frankincense, sweat, and garlic, all mingled. An ignorant
converted slave entered, who, seeing some muddy water in
a stone basin at the portal, concluded it was for ablution.
He, therefore, laved his tarred and begrimed arms in it,
up to the elbows. A missionary priest, observing this,
struck him over the pate with the cross, on which was
bedaubed, as if in mockery, a gory Christ. The cross,
being of the same materials as the priest's heart, iron-
wood and ebony, was heavy. The priest was strong and
malignant. It crushed the fellow's bare head, and entered
the brain ; — the first good act a bigoted priest committed,
for the slave was emancipated/'

u What did they with the assassin ?" exclaimed Aston.

u I know," answered De Ruyter, ce what they would
have done with you, if they had heard you so call him.
Why, they drowned the victim's death-scream with bel-
lowing Te Deum, mopped their sweating brows, and went
and feasted at the slave-butcher's house. As to poor
negur man, I saw his carcass to-day, as I rode along at
high water-mark, a banquet for the land-crabs. These
are the staunch upholders of the Pope's bloody banner,
and these the arguments used for the conversion of unbe-
lievers. At Rome is the main-spring of this faith, which
I liken to a banian tree : for every branch from the main
body throws out its own roots, — at first in small tender
fibres, but continually growing thicker, by gradual descent,
they get within the surface of the earth ; where, sticking
in, they increase to large trunks, and each becomes a
parent tree, throwing out new branches from the top ;
these, in time, suspend their root, and receiving nourish-
ment, swell into trunks, and shoot forth other branches ;
thus continuing in a state of progression, so long as the
first parent of them all supplies its sustenance."

" No more of this !" said I ; lC let us hasten to our
quarters on the Ml!, away from priests and slaves ! "

A YOUNGER SON, 211

CHAPTER XIII.

Soft mossy lawns
Beneath these canopies extend their swells,
Fragrant with perfumed herbs, and eyed with blooms,
Minute yet beautiful. Shelley.

No tumbling water ever spake romance,

But when my eyes with thine thereon could dance j

No woods were green enough, no bower divine,

Until thou liftedst up thine eyelids fine. Keats.

In a few days more, all our arrangements being made, and
the Rais left on board in command, De Ruyter, Aston, and
myself, with the gentle Zela, and her attendants, went on
shore as the day broke. We commenced our journey in-
land, with mules, ponies, and asses. We went some dis-
tance along the pebbly margin of the shore, beautifully
tesselated with a variety of shells, of all colours and shapes.
Then crossing an arid plain, we wound up a rocky, rugged
ascent, on a path with only room for one mule. I walked
by the side of Zela's little horse, and pointed out to her the
sublime beauty of the scenery. As the grey mist was eva-
porating, the tops of the cone-like hills were left bare,
while their bases were still hidden by the vapours. They
looked like a group of beautiful islands or black swans,
floating in a calm and silent lake, some feathered to the
very crest with shrubs and bushes; some with majestic
timber, the palm and cedar ; and others blasted by volcanic
fire.

Zela had the blood of a fearless race. She had been
bred and schooled amidst peril always at hand. Not
having learnt to afreet what she did not feel, she crossed
ravines, wound along precipices, and waded through streams
and rivers, not only without impeding us by enacting a
pantomimic representation of fears, tears, entreaties, pray-
ers, screaming, and fainting ; but she was such a simpleton
as not even to notice them, unless, in the usual sweet, low
tone of her voice, to remark that they were delightful
places to sit in during the sultry part of the day ; or she
would stop her pony over a precipice to gather some
p 2

212 ADVENTURES OP

curious flowers drooping from a natural arch ; or to pluck
the pendant and waving boughs of the most graceful of
Indian trees, the imperial mimosa, sensitive and sacred as
love, shrinking from the touch of the profane.

e< Put this," she said, holding out a branch, <c in your
turban ; for I am sure in some of these hollow caves and
dreary chasms the ogres live ; they feed their young with
human blood, and they love to give them the young and
beautiful. Put it in your turban, brother, — since you say
I must not call you master; — and never frown, — I do
not like to see it, for then you are not so handsome, — I
mean good, — as when you smile. Do not laugh, but take
it. It will preserve you from every spell and magic,
Nothing bad dares come near it."

While crossing a sandy level, suddenly she started, as
her eye caught some object. Without stopping her horse,
which was ambling along, she sprang off, and ran up a
sand-hill, like a white doe. Never having witnessed any
thing like this before, I was so astonished that she was
returning, ere I could overtake her to ask if an ogre had
lured her with his evil eye. " O, no," she cried, — Cl look
here ! You like flowers, but did you ever see any one so
lovely as this? Smell it, — 'tis so sweet that the rose, if
growing near it, loses its beauty and fragrance, from envy
of its rival."

Certainly I thought she was bewitched. It was a
glaring, large, red bough, full of blowzy blossoms, and
yellow berries, with a musky fcetid odour. C( Why," I
exclaimed, " you have as much reason to be jealous of old
Kamalia, your nurse, as the rose to be jealous of such a
scraggy bramble as this ! Faugh ! the smell makes me
sick."

I suppose I was instigated to make this rude speech by
her fondling and kissing it. Her dark eyes expanded ;
and she seemed, for an instant, to view me with astonish-
ment, then with sorrow ; as they closed, I perceived that
their brightness was gone, and the long jetty fringe, which
arched upwards as it pressed her cheek, was covered with
little pearly dew-drops. The branch fell from her hand
under my feet, her sprightly form drooped, and the tones

A YOUNGER SON. 213

of her voice reminded me of the time when she hung over
her dying parent as she said, c< Pardon me, stranger ! I
had forgotten you are not of my father's land. This tree
covered my father's tent, sheltered us from the sun,, and
kept away the flies,, when we slept in the day. Our virgins
wreathe it in their hair ; and, if they die,, it is strewn over
their graves. So, I cant help loving it hetter than any
thing. But, since you say it makes you sick, I won't love
it, or gather it any more." Then her words became
almost inarticulate from sobbing, as she added, <e Why
should I wear it now ? I belong to a stranger ! My
father is gone ! "

I need scarcely say that I not only returned the flowers,
and pleaded my ignorance ; but I went up the hill, and
pulled up the tree by the roots. (e Sweet sister," said I,
" I was only angry with it because you abused the fa-
voured tree of our country, the rose. But now, as the sun
shines on it, and I see it nearer," — looking at her, — ie I
do think the rose may envy it, as the loveliest of my
countrywomen might envy you. I '11 plant it in our garden."

ee O, how good you are!" she exclaimed; iC and I '11 plant
a rose near it, and they shall mingle their sweets ; for our
love and care of them will make them live together with-
out envy. Every thing should love each other. I love
every tree, and fruit, and flower."

Still I observed, as her thin robes were disarranged, that
her little downy bosom fluttered like an imprisoned bird
panting for liberty ; and, to turn her thoughts from what
had pained her, I said, " Do not fear, dear Zela. That
is the last stream we have to cross ; and then we shall
ride over that beautiful plain."

" O, stranger !" she replied, " 7*e\& never feared any
thing, but her father, when angry ; and then, those who
feared not to gaze on the lightning, when all the world
appeared to be on fire, feared to look in his face. Then
his voice was louder than the thunder, and his lance deadlier
than the thunderbolt. Last evening, when you talked to
that tall man, who is so gentle, you looked like my father ;
and I thought you were going to kill him, and I wanted
to tell you not; for I have read his eyes, and he loves
p 3

214 ADVENTURES OF

you much. It is very bad to be angry with those that
love us."

(i Oh, you mean Aston ! No, dear, I was not angry
with him. I love him too. We were talking of the
horrid cruelties practised on the poor slaves here ; and I
was angry at that."

" I wish I knew your language ! How I should have
loved to hear you ! And then I should have slept ; but
being ignorant of that, I did nothing but weep, because I
thought I saw you angry with one that loves you."

De Ruyter now came up, and we suddenly stood on the
elevated plain, called Vacois, in the centre of the island.
Our ascent had been very abrupt, winding, and rugged.
Before us, in the middle of the plain, on which we now
rode, was the pyramidical mountain I have already noticed,
under the name of Piton du Milieu. Inclining to our
right was the port and town of St. Louis. To the south
were large plains, in rich vegetation, divided by a fine river,
with one solitary hill. To the north were other plains,
inclining to the sea, white, as if the briny waters had
recently receded from them, and only partially cultivated
with sugar-canes, indigo, and, in the marshy spots, with
rice. From south to east it was volcanic and mountainous,
with jungle and ancient forests. The north-east was, for
the most part, level. The plain, where we were, was full
of little sheets of deep war, forming themselves into pretty
lakes ; which, overflowing during the heavy rains, at times
made the plain swampy, and ever overgrown with canes,
reeds, and gigantic grass. Such was the diversified and
beautiful scenery now disclosed, as the sun, having risen
above the mountains in the east, dissipated the yellow
mists, and laid bare the hitherto obscured beauties of this
divine island, like a virgin unrobed for bathing.

We alighted under the shade of a group of the rose-apple
trees, which seemed to have drawn a charmed circle round
a solitary oak, on the brink of a lake, clear as a diamond,
and apparently of amazing depth, the golden Chinese fish
sporting on its surface, and green, yellow, and blue dra-
gon-flies darting here and there above it. The modest
wood-pigeon and dove, disturbed in their morning ablu-

A YOUNGER SON. 215

tions, flew away to the woods. The gray partridge ran into
the vacour, which stood in thick lines on the Drink, impene-
trable from its long fibrous leaves, standing out like a pha-
lanx of lances. The water-hens dived, and the parrots
chattered on the trees, as if they had been peopled with
scolding married women; whilst the sluggish baboon sat,
with portly belly, gormandising with the voracity and
gravity of a monk, regardless of all but the stuffing of his
insatiable maw with bananas.

We were told that there were, in this lake, prawns as
big as lobsters, and eels of incredible size, from fifteen to
twenty feet long. The two principal rivers took their rise
from this plain, augmenting in their course by the tribute
of an infinity of streamlets; till swollen into bulk and
strength, like two rival monarchs, they ran parallel for a
while, trying to outvie each other in pomp and velocity^
springing over their rocky beds. After some distance they
separated to the right and left, and passed through their
different districts, to pay, in their turn, tribute to the
mightier ocean.

CHAPTER XIV.

The oak
Expanding its immeasurable arms
Embraces the light beech. The pyramids
Of the tall cedar, overarching, frame
Most solemn domes within ; and far below,
Like clouds suspended in an emerald sky,
The ash and the acacia floating hang,
Tremulous and pale. The parasites,
Starr'd with ten thousand blossoms, flow around
The grey trunks. Shelley.

After the senses were satiated by the matchless beauties
of nature, our grosser appetites prevailed, craving some of
her solid bounties. Fish, fruits, and other simple fare, a
sailor's greatest luxury, were spread out in abundance.
We devoured them with truly sacerdotal zeal. Meanwhile,
p 4

216 ADVENTURES OF

the odour of citron s, raspberries, guavas, wild mangoes,,
and strawberries, with countless herbs and aromatic plants
and shrubs,, ascending up the valley with the morning
dew, filled us with exquisite sensations of delight. My
limbs, light and elastic, impelled me to believe I could
have outrun the deer, which, from time to time, we saw
crossing the opening glades, and dashing into the coverts.

A portion of the pleasure I felt infused itself into the
mind of Zela. This was the first time we had eaten bread
and salt together. As I remarked it to her, she smiled,
and said, " Yes, now we must be friends ! And, if you
keep our country's customs, you must not even frown on
me, your guest, till the sun shall set, and again dawn/'

While strolling together, and gathering flowers, 1
I questioned her respecting their classification, — not th<
botanical, but the oriental one of love; but De Ruytei
soon halooed us to horse.

We left the lake on our right, skirted the base of Pitoi
du Milieu, over a volcanic soil of pulverized cinders, and
by gentle descents, proceeded towards the south. Agair
we were among mountains, passing green lawns, and
marshes overgrown with vitti-vert (which is used for
thatching), fern, marshmallows, waving bamboos, and
wild tobacco. We saw plantations of the manioc (bread-
fruit), maize, sweet potatoes, the cotton-tree, the sugar-
cane, coffee, and cloves. Then we crossed rocky channels
of clear rippling water, hedged by dwarf oaks and the
dusky-coloured olive, underneath which flourished the
dark-green fig-tree, with its strawberry-red marrowy fruit,
bared by the bursting of its emerald-green rind. Here
the majestic palmiste towered grandly alone, crowned with
its first, tardy, and only fruit ; and when deprived of that
diadem, like earthly monarchs, it perishes. We penetrated
the wild native woods, where grew the iron- wood tree, the
oak, the black cinnamon, the apple, the acacia, the tama-
rind, and the nutmeg. Our path was arched by wild
vines, jessamine, and a multitude of deep scarlet-blos-
somed creepers, so thickly interlaced in their living
cordage, that neither sun nor storm could penetrate them ;
or if a wandering beam found entrance through the thick

A YOUNGER SON. 21?

natural trelliee-work, it was only enough to cover some
little tuft of violets or strawberries, its own offspring,
growing up in its genial warmth with a strength and
vigour pre-eminent amidst the pale and sickly brood of the
neglected children of the shade. Nothing I had ever
imagined of the loveliness of nature equalled the reality of
these scenes. Among such fairy haunts, created for a
sylvan people, we appeared intruders; and, for the first
time, methought De Ruyter's and Aston' s voices were
harsh, and their manly figures and weather-strained brows,
out of keeping: they would be more in their places, I
thought, on the armed deck of a ship, or leading men to
battle. I could in no manner so group them as to make
them keep tone, or preserve the harmony of the scene.
The most favourable view that could be taken of them,
was to regard them as wood- demons, jungle admee (wild
men), ourang-outangs, or centaurs. The old nurse, Kama-
lia, who, with two black slaves, brought up the rear, I
was so convinced was a sybil or sorceress, with her attend-
ant demons, ready to execute her horrible enchantments,
that I began to wish myself out of the gloom of the
forests, and to long once more to be in the sun, however
scorching ; and when Zela pulled in her horse, and the
old dark hag approached with her blacks, I grasped hold
of his bridle, and urged him on, anticipating every instant
to see Zela transformed into a white fawn, bounding into
the density of the woods, and myself and all the others
into great black dogs, doomed to hunt her, without pause,
for a hundred moons. My fears were a little dissipated,
as, clinging firmer on her horse, for its sudden motion, as
she was looking up, had almost thrown her, she said,
" O, let me go — I shall fall ! — and I want to speak to
old Kamalia, to ask her what these beautiful red flowers
are on the top of that tree. And, see ! they are not
blossoms, but little scarlet birds, and you have frightened
them all away ! "

I, laughingly, acquainted Zela with my thoughts. She
laughed too, and inquired —

" But what do you think I am?"

" You, dear, are the gentle Ariel, the fairy sprite of the

218 ADVENTURES OF

place. This wood should be your dwelling-place, your
empire : nothing human, — for every thing human is dashed
with evil, — should find an entrance. Elemental walls
should incage you ; and you should live, like the bee and
those bright birds, on the sweets of herbs and flowers."

" Yes, but I should not wish to live alone ; nor could I
be happy if imprisoned, though in the sweetest place, for
then it would be no longer sweet."

" Then, dearest, I would attend on you as your slave/'

' c O, no, no, no, there shall be no slaves : did you not
say so ? "

Our path now became wider and lighter, and we emerged
from dark shade into an open plain, almost blinding us
with dazzling brightness. As we crossed a river, by a
rustic bridge, I thought I recognised De Ruyter's hand in
the construction. Again ascending a zig-zag path, we
mounted, amongst groups of trees and shrubs, to an ele-
vated platform, on which stood the house and gardens of
De Ruyter. I shouted with delight to Aston^ who was
behind me —

" See, here it is — here is our house : it must be so; for
who but De Ruyter would have ever discovered so match-
less a spot to build a dwelling on ? I told you so : every
thing we have hitherto passed is nothing in beauty to this ;
and, possessing this, what else can a man desire ; for here
is every beauty in nature drawn together to make it per-
fect."

" It is indeed!" answered Aston, looking at the situ-
ation, and gazing round at the extensive view over the
island, " it is perfection ! "

"Come, come, dismount," said De Ruyter; "you'll
have time enough to examine this. It is now the hottest
hour of the day. Your husband," turning to Zela, " is
fit only for a wandering santon of the desert : see, he has
selected the most unsheltered place he could find, to have
the full benefit of the sun. Look at him, he is unturban-
ing ! He would be a saint among the Raypoots — the
sun's offspring V

Zela came up to my side, and gently said, "Do not
stand in the sun, for it is very bad now. Look ! all the

A YOUNGER SON. 219

blossoms and flowers shrink from it, and, shutting their
eyes, they sink into the shadow of the leaves; and they
too droop despondingly. And all the pretty birds and
insects are gone to sleep in the woods. No animal is
stirring abroad when the sun is in the middle of heaven.
Every thing sleeps ; even the wind is gone to sleep, in
those holes and caverns we saw on the shore. Nothing
but the malignant little fly is awake ; he now collects his
venom in the poisonous exhalations, to torment the night
with his war-cry, whilst he stabs with his lance, and
frightens sleep away. He is the bad spirit, and sleep is
the good. Come away ; the captain says so, and you
mind him more than me."

A very pretty description of the sand- fly tribe, thought
I, as we dismounted under a viranda, and were led by
De Ruyter into the house. It had a double row of
Persian blinds all round, which completely excluded the
sun, and let in the air. The centre hall, comprising
nearly half the house, had a flag pavement, with a stream
of the clearest w^ater, hurrying through a little channel,
which filled an oval basin in the middle, and then a large
bathing tank in the garden-grounds, serving also for
irrigation. It afterwards formed a cascade, and leaped
from crag to crag, till it reached its parent river, whose
waters could be heard from the window, murmuring
beneath us. De Ruyter had cut, upwards in the moun-
tain, to the source of one of the springs, which he thus
brought down into his house and grounds. Round the
centre hall were low, broad, cushioned seats ; and on its
walls Indian and European weapons of the chase, mingled
with drawings and rustic implements. Zela and her at-
tendants were shown into one of the wings, over which
was written, in Persian characters, <e The Zennanah."
Ci This was a whim of the artist," said De Ruyter, <£ who
arranged and painted the interior ; for your lady is the
first who, as far as I knowT, ever entered it."

Then, showing Aston his room, he turned to me, and
continued : " As for you, a walled room cannot contain
your wandering spirit. So we must leave you to rove
about after your restless fashion ;— - I know you will do so,

220

ADVENTURES OF

whether permitted or not. If you want any thing, clap
your hands; then, if they are real wants, they will be
satisfied. As to luxuries, I have avoided the taint of the
climate ; yet nothing is prohibited, for that defeats its
object, and sets a value on shadows. When the gong
sounds one, you will find tiffin in the hall."

CHAPTER XV.

We gaze and turn away, and know not where,
Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart
Keels with its fulness. Byrox.

With these words he left us to ourselves, and Aston
exclaimed, <c What can he mean by luxuries ? Can the
world produce such as these, to my mind the most exqui-
site that man can conceive ? "

" I think we may contrive/' I replied, cc not being very
fastidious in these matters, to rough it here."

ccYes," he rejoined; "and when we leave it, every
thing else will appear rough and musky as an Irish hut."

Thus chatting, strolling about the hall, and just sallying
out, the gong sounded. All but Zela appeared. £e We
shall find you," said De Ruyter to me, " but a droning
sort of comrade, unless the queen bee makes her appear-
ance ; so let her be entreated to wave the customs of her
country, and follow ours, — at least in this. In most others
I like hers best."

A woman was called and sent to her. After some
demur Zela entered, and, placing her on a couch, for she
had never sat on a chair, I placed myself by her. Ad-
mirable were her little tapering fingers in eating. Their
beauty was destroyed by an ugly iron prong, which she
essayed in vain to use. I begged her to teach me her
way ; but, instead of separating grains of rice, as she could,
with fingers, it was impossible to separate the rice from

A YOUNGER SON. 2*1

the wing of fowl in a curry. I was compelled to shovel
them both in my mouth together.

Zela, with still some difficulty, consented to accompany
us in our evening stroll. She retired, and we reclined on
the couches round the hall, with coffee and callians, gazing
on the water, which, in its shadowed channel, looked like
a mirror in a marble frame. Too happy to express our
feelings, we did not talk, but sat musing, till we found
relief in sleep.

On awaking, we washed in basins placed on stone
benches by the stream. A drink was brought, of iced
water, with the compressed juice of the freshly plucked
pomegranate ; and a little fllagreed basket of fruit and
sweetmeats. Then again restoring the fine tone of the
palate with coffee, whose fragrance filled the hall, we once
more smoked our callians, till the sun was sinking behind
a mountain, and the breeze came from the sea, when we
sent for Zela.

At her appearance we went into the grounds about the
house, and ascended, by a gentle acclivity, in shaded and
embowered paths, to a summer-room exactly of the form
and colour of a marquee. Here was a commanding view
of the principal beauties of the island, the sea, and the
entire port of Bourbon, Zela cried out, (< There is the
ship ! — close below us, — not more than five miles off! "
And, with the telescope, I fancied I could see Louis le
Grand busily handling the turtle, under the awning on
deck.

I sat down on a projecting crag, above a deep chasm,
with my eyes riveted on the light and winged movements
of Zela, who was flitting about, like a bee or bird, from
tree to flower, examining nicely into each scent and quality.
Elegant motion, graceful bearing, and bashful yet unem-
barrassed address, are to be found in perfection in the East.
Nature, as if fearing the rivalry of art, or indignant at its
presumption, or disdaining to contend with so feeble a foe,
or disgusted that her choicest, best gifts are despised,
tortured, and distorted into unseemly shapes in what is
called civilised communities, has withdrawn from populous
cities to the desert and the lonely mountains, her own

922 ADVENTURES OF

loved haunts ; and there she dwells, sporting with her
favoured offspring, the ring-dove, the antelope, and the
barb. A child of the desert is like a vine in the wilder-
ness, spreading its leafy tendrils in profusion ; although,
in comparison to the same plant cultivated and pruned, it
yields hut a scanty vintage, it is more beautiful, hanging
in flowing ringlets on the heads of forest trees, than clipped
and confined to hedge- stakes. The vine and the olive are
children of the hills and sands, nurtured by sunbeams.
The desert-horse and antelope are the fleetest and most
beautiful. That majestic king of birds, the plumage of
which waves over the jewelled diadems of human kings,
and nods in triumph over a royal hearse, inhabits the
sandy wastes. The richest fruits, the sweetest flowers, the
balmiest air, the brightest and purest water, are found
amidst rocks and sands, nursed in solitude and liberty :
and there man communes with God and nature till, in love
and worship, his feelings are almost divine. There, too,
I have seen her virgins — and Zela was one of these —
untaught as her wildest children, whose exquisite loveliness
shamed the Grecian sculptor's art, his measured lines and
cold proportions, by beauties such as inspiration, with the
perfection of science, could never dream to trace. I have
gazed on their forms, features, and expression, blending
and harmonising together, till the over-excited senses, all
concentrated into one, have so fascinated my being, that I
have become faint with unendurable delight, and my heart,
overflowing with its delicious sensations, sought relief in
sighs and tears v What eye so stony, that meets their
arrowy glance darting through the brain, could scrutinise
its colour or measure its lines, to see if it were of the
Grecian or Roman mould ? The owl might as well at-
tempt to gaze undazzled at the sun.

It was only in Zela's absence that I could dwell on her
portraiture. She had just turned her fourteenth year ;
and though certainly not considered, even in the East, as
matured, yet, forced like a flower, fanned by the sultry
west wind, into early development, her form, like its petals
bursting through the bud, gave promise of the rarest
beauty and sweetness. Nurtured in the shade, her hue

A YOUNGER SON. 223

was pale ; but, contrasted with the date- coloured women
about her, the soft and transparent clearness of her com-
plexion was striking ; and it was heightened by clouds of
the darkest hair. She looked like a solitary star unveiled
in the night. The breadth and depth of her clear and
smooth forehead were partly hidden by the even silky line
from which the hair arose, fell over in rich profusion, and
added to its brightness; as did the glossy, well-defined
eye-brow, boldly crossing the forehead, slightly waved at
the outer extremities, but not arched. Her eyes were full,
even for an orientalist, but neither sparkling nor promi-
nent ; soft as the thrush's. It was only when moved by
joy, surprise, or sorrow, that the star-like iris dilated and
glistened, and then its effect was most eloquent and ma-
gical. The distinct ebon-lashes which curtained them were
singularly long and beautiful _; and when she slept, they
pressed against her pale cheeks, and were arched up-
wards.

That portion of the eye generally of a pearly white-
ness in hers was tinted with a light shade of blue, like
the bloom on a purple grape, or the sky seen through the
morning mist. Her mouth was harmony and love ; her
face was small and oval, with a wavy outline of ineffable
grace descending to her smooth and unruffled neck, thence
swelling at her bosom, which was high, and just developing
into form. Her limbs were long, full, and rounded ; her
motion was quick, but not springy — light as a zephyr. As
she then stood canopied beneath the dense shade of that
sacred Hindoo tree, with its drooping foliage hanging in
clusters round her, in every clasped and sensitive leaf of
which a fairy is said to dwell, I fancied she was their
queen, and must have dropped from one of the leaves, to
gambol and wanton among the flowers below. Running
to her, I caught her in my arms, and said, " I watched
your fall, and have you now, dear sprite, and will keep
you here V — pressing her to my bosom.

iC Oh, put me down ! You hurt me, — - 1 have not fallen,
— oh, let me go ! "

Ci Will you promise then not to take flight to your leafy
dwelling, in that your fairy kingdom tree ? "

224 ADVENTURES OF

" What do you mean ? Oh ! let me go, — you '11 crush
me !"

I gently placed her on the ground,, and told her my
fears. The instant I unclutched her, she ran to her old
attendant, scared like a young leveret ; and this was my
first emhrace of my Arab maid.

That it may not be considered I exaggerate, when speak-
ing of the Arabs in India generally, I must refer the
reader to what a recent, learned, and unprejudiced tra-
veller says of them : ei The Arabs are numerous in India ;
their comparative fairness, their fine, bony, and muscular
figures, their noble countenances, and picturesque dress,
intelligent, bold, and active," &c.

Zela's father was all this, and her mother a celebrated
beauty brought from the Georgian Caucasus, and twice
made captive by the chance of war. After giving birth to
Zela, she looked, and saw her own image in her child,
blessed it, and yielded up her mortality. Is it to be mar-
velled at, that the offspring of such parents was as I have
described, or rather what I have attempted to describe ?
For I am little skilled in words, or words are insufficient
to represent what the eye sees, and the heart feels.

CHAPTER XVI.

There 's not a breath
Will mingle kindly with the meadow air,
Till it has panted round and stolen a share'
Of passion from the heart. Keats.

On my return to De Ruyter and Aston, they were de-
termining on the necessity of our calling on the command-
ant at Port St. Louis, and agreed to ride thither on the
ensuing day. I begged off, under plea of having the ship's
duty to attend to. We continued in the open air till
supper was announced, and our evening terminated as
agreeably as the day had begun, wanting nothing but the

A YOUNGER SON. 22 S

presence of Zela. As we were to rise long before the sun,
to enjoy the cool morning air, we retired early to our
couches.

My restless spirit could not be hushed to sleep. After
tossing about for an hour, I returned to the summer-house,
where they found me in the morning. I then went to the
bath, which refreshed me more than sleep. After coffee,
and smoking our callians, we went round with De Ruyter
to look at his plants and shrubs, which he had brought
from different islands in the Indian archipelago ; for he
had a strong passion for gardening, building, and planting,
and loved this island for its climate and soil, where every
thing flourished. He said, ee I have questioned all sorts
of people, up to princes and tyrants, and find that gar-
deners are the most contented, and, therefore, the happiest
people in the world. I confess, if I had not been a sailor
from chance, I should have been a gardener from choice.
But we have no voice in these matters, compelled, like the
beetle and the bat, blindly on, in the earth, or in the air."

I could hardly remember a fruit or flower I had ever
seen in Europe or India which he had not collected to-
gether here ; and there were many I had never seen, or
never taken note of before, besides the aboriginal trees of
the island. Except the platform on which the house was
built, all the ground round about was wild and broken.
The timber found on the spot had been partially cleared
away; small groups and single forest trees were left. The
house consisted of a single story, with a projecting front
and roof, and was colonnaded. The front was to the
south, and looked down on a small plain ; the sea was to
the north-west ; and to the east, mountains, forests, rocks,
and precipices, diversified the scenery. With the exception
of a portion of the plain below, nothing indicated culti-
vation or inhabitants. There was a large plantation, with
several small ones, divided by avenues of trees and paths
between, and whitewashed wooden cottages, whence De
lluyter drew all his supplies, making it a point to produce
every article he consumed in abundanee,

" It would be more advantageous," said he, ec in a
worldly point of view, to cultivate that alone, in large
Q

226 ADVENTURES GP

quantities, which is best adapted to the peculiarity of the
soil; and, by turning the overplus into specie, to purchase
what necessaries or luxuries I might fancy. But, besides
the satisfaction I feel in my plan, for what I lose in profit
I gain in pleasure, health, and occupation, it enables me
to meliorate the hard fate of those suffering under a de-
testable system, — which I abhor, but cannot remedy, — I
mean that of slavery. What I could, I have done. You
will find no slave on my property. The bread you eat
may not be the whitest or the lightest ; but it is not stained
by the blood and sweat of the galled and overtoiled cap-
tive, or leavened in execrations. Some score of slaves that
I have redeemed, or found free, are my tenants. I have
a tithe of their produce ; I take it in kind. One is to
supply me annually with corn, another with coffee, and so
on to rice, sugar, spices, cotton, tobacco, wine, oil, spirit,
and what else the ground will produce. What is super-
fluous I dispose of. Every thing you eat and drink here
is by free, not by forced, labour; and I think we shall not
relish our homely fare the less from knowing it is so. I
am not one of those heavy-beamed moralists who preach,
but hang astern from practice ; fellows who scrutinise into
the doctrine of a tailor before they venture into a pair of
breeches of his making, without a thought of payment ; I
rather look at the goodness of their work, than at their
godliness. I am better served by free people, working
with all their hearts, than by the hands of heartless
slaves/'

The ride to the commandant being postponed to the
following day, we all proceeded to employ ourselves after
our own fancies. Be Ruyter made a drawing of a wing
he wished to add to his dwelling, as a zennanah for the
women. Aston unearthed sweet potatoes, yams, and herbs
for dinner. I formed an arbour of bamboos amidst the
shrubs, where I planted the mystic tree, the yakoonoo,
that caused Zela's tears to flow on our journey. As 1 lay
down under the shade of a rose-apple, not having slept at
night, I fell into a sound nap ; from which I was awakened
by feeling, as the sun ascended over the trees, the rays
stealing up my limbs like flame. I knew I should be

A YOUNGER SON. 22?

burnt out of my post in a few minutes ; yet this enhanced
the pleasure of those moments, and I contentedly endured
the fiery martyrdom of my lower extremities. At this
moment I heard a gentle rustling noise approaching. What
could it be ? I was stretched out in such listless indo-
lence, that I could neither move nor look, though I con-
tinued to listen intently. I felt I ought to rouse myself,
for as it came on, it struck me it was a serpent ; but then
I instantly recollected that De Ruyter told us there was
not a single venomous reptile on the island. Oh no,
thought I, I know the sound ; I am confident it is only a
lizard or two, fly-catching. Then I was conscious of
something being lightly placed above me, which rustled in
its motion ; and, opening my eyes, I beheld Zela, with her
little Malayan girl, Adoo, shadowing me with part of a
tslypot palm -leaf, — for an entire one is sometimes thirty
feet in circumference. She was running away when she
perceived me awake ; but I caught hold of the hem of her
loose, embroidered trousers. iC Why," said she, ee do you
lie in the sun ? Don't you knew it is worse than the bite
of the chichta ? — and its blow on the uncovered brow
more fatal than the bahr's ? "

u Sweet Zela, what brought you here ? "

iC Oh, to gather fruit."

" Why did you bring that palm-leaf? There's none
of them near this place/'

Her eye then caught the tree I had planted, and she
asked, u What do you think for ? How could I know
you were sleeping in the sun ? We got the leaf to cover
this yakoonoo."

(e How did you know it was planted there, for I told no
one of it ? "

I thought I read in her eyes, and in the varying ex-
pression of her features, the mirror of her mind, that I
was not, as heretofore, indifferent to her. With a step
almost as light as hers, I returned with her to the house.

q2

22S ADVENTURES OP

CHAPTER XVII.

Sublime tobacco ! which, from east to west,

Cheers the tar's labour, or the Turkman's rest ;

Which on the Moslem's ottoman divides

His hours, and rivals opium and his brides ;

Magnificent in Stamboul, but less grand,

Though not less loved in Wapping, or the Strand ;

Divine in hookahs, glorious in a pipe,

When tipped with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe. Byron.

And on the sand would I make signs to range

These woofs, as they were woven of my thought ;

Clear, elemental shapes, whose smallest change

A subtler language within language wrought. Shelley.

We were met by De Ruyter, who said, " Lady, I was about
to pay you a visit, for a cup of old KamahVs coffee."

" I beseech you do, captain/' she answered ; " she makes
it better than any one ; her sherbet, too, and her arekee are
excellent. She knows many other things ; and can read
the old books of our country, and the stars."

(C By her antique look," observed De Ruyter, " she must
have studied from the papyrus ; and it would not surprise
me if she could clear up the mystery of hieroglyphics."

On entering the zennanah, the old governante, Kamalia,
having counted us on her four skinny fingers, proceeded to
fulfil that sacred rite, never omitted in the East, of pre-
senting refreshments ; without the heartless and niggardly
ceremony of appealing to the guests, as is wont in Europe,
to learn whether they will take them or not, looking on
those who receive them with an evil eye. I followed
Kamalia to know how the genuine oriental coffee is made.
Good Mussulmans can alone make good coffee ; for, being
interdicted from the use of ardent spirits, their palate is
more exquisite and their relish greater.

Thus it is : — A bright charcoal fire was burning in a
small stove. She first took, for four persons, four handsful
of the small, pale, Mocha berry, little bigger than barley.
These had been carefully picked and cleaned. She put them
into an iron vessel, where, with admirable quickness and
dexterity, they were roasted till their colour was somewhat

A YOUNGER SON. 229

darkened, and the moisture not exhaled. The over-roasted
ones were picked out, and the remainder, while very hot,
put into a large wooden mortar, where they were instantly
pounded by another woman. This done, Kamalia passed
the powder through a camel's hair cloth ; and then repassed
it through a finer cloth. Meanwhile a coffee-pot, contain-
ing exactly four cups of water, was boiling. This was taken
off, one cup of water poured out, and three cups full of the
powder, after she had ascertained its impalpability between
her ringer and thumb, were stirred in with a stick of
cinnamon. When replaced on the fire, on the point of
over-boiling, it was taken off, the heel of the pot struck
against the hob, and again put on the fire. This was re-
peated five or six times. I forgot to mention she added a
very minute piece of mace, not enough to make its flavour
distinguishable ; and that the coffee-pot must be of tin, and
uncovered, or it cannot form a thick cream on the surface,
which it ought to do. After it was taken, for the last time,
from the fire, the cup of water, which had been poured
from it, was returned. It was then carried into the room,
without being disturbed, and instantly poured into the
cups, where it retained its rich cream at the top.

Thus made, its fragrance filled the room, and nothing
could be more delicious to the palate. So far from its being
a long and tedious process, as it may appear in narrating,
old Kamalia allowed herself only two minutes for each per-
son ; so that from the time of her leaving the room to her
return, no more than eight minutes had elapsed.

Zela herself handed it to her guests, the little Malayan
girl following with sweatmeats and water. Zela then
brought me a cheboukche (Turkish pipe) ; it being the
custom for the wife, in her apartment, to fill and light it,
but only for a father or husband. She removed the pale-
coloured amber from her ruby lips, and, presenting it to
me, crossed her hands on her forehead. She then left me
to see her other guests served by her women.

Pallid amber, not transparent, tinged with the lightest

shade of violet, or, as the Mussulmans say, like the hue of

a fair virgin's brow just as the life has fled, is by far the

most precious. Next to that, in their estimation, ranks the

Q 3

230 ADVENTURES OP

lightest of the lemon shade, cloudless and unspotted, but
not transparent,

The only admissible beverage to preserve the sensibility
of the palate, whilst inhaling the vapour of that exquisite
and inestimable leaf, which grows at Shiraz, on an estuary,
the eastern side of the Persian Gulf, (said to have been
Adam's Paradise, and I believe it !) if you would volup-
tuize in the full luxuriance of its perfect flavour, is either
coffee, such as I have described, or the juices of fresh fruits
compressed in water, or the pure element, or Tonkin or
Souchong tea, gathered whilst the dew was on the leaf;
let the best be selected, and infused with a liberal hand in
water, the instant ere it boils, — not stewed, as in Europe*
Just as the leaves are unfolding themselves, the infusion is
pungent and aromatic without being bitter and vapid. It
should then be sweetened with the clearest candied sugar.
All fermented liquors are held in Mahometan abhorrence
by refined smokers, as blunting the delicate sense of the
palate, and destroying the mental relish.

Zela's father was deeply versed in the art of smoking,
and had initiated her theoretically in its most hidden mys-
teries, as an indispensable part of female education ; and
De Ruyter, little inferior in his practical knowledge, used
to say, " I consider European accomplishments as mere
springes to catch woodcocks. Useful knowledge they have
none. All their pride is in their feathers and ornaments,
like the coloured muckarunga, or the flaunting peacock, or
the motley jay, stupid, presumptuous, and chattering.
Whilst these Arab maids, whom they scoff at as barbarians,
because they alone value what is useful, can manufacture
cloth of all sorts, fashion it into dresses, sow the corn, bruise
it, and make it into bread, hunt and spear the flying ante-
lope, or ostrich, and cook either in a variety of modes.
Then their plighted faith was never broken : and their
watchful quickness and devoted courage are a shield on their
husband's bosom, when his eyes are closed in the nest of
danger ; for then treason or force cannot reach their lords,
unless through their faithful breasts. As to female beauty,
who is to decide on the general standard ? They are all
classed together, and so are the lily and the garlic ; yet

A YOUNGER SON. 231

what can be more dissimilar. In Siam and Arracan long
ears and black teeth are thought charming ; in China
and Tartary, large lips and long nails. In some parts of
Europe the points of beauty are considered similar to those
of the horse, — breadth, bone, height, and solidity of struc-
ture. In England there is an Amazonian breed arrived at
perfection, together with the horse, the bullock, and the
oak. But those who love dainty, delicate, and feminine
forms, must seek them in the lands where flourish the crim-
soned-blossomed ceiba, the date, and waving bamboo, which
love nature's wildest nooks, and refuse to mingle their beau-
ties with the crowded jungle or cultivated plantation."

On the ensuing morning De Ruyter and Aston went to
the town of St. Louis on a visit to the commandant ; and I
amused myself in gardening. Zela was becoming accus-
tomed to be with me, and I could hardly live a moment
out of her presence. Her calm features became dimpled
and animated by smiles. We were both unlearned in love.
Though we could converse on common topics, notwith-
standing my mistakes in the Arabic, without any great
difficulty, yet were we equally novices in the language of
the heart. The fierceness of my passions, which usually
hurried me on impetuously, was now checked by the acutest
sensibility. I could find no words to express my new
feelings, wdnle their violence craved the perfection of elo-
quence to delineate them. But words died on my lips ;
and, as we sat down on a carpet, under the shade of a tree,
we communed in the antique characters of her country,
which, for lovers, far excel the alphabet of Cadmus. We
drew figures, on the red sandy soil, of birds, ships, and
houses, and to these hieroglyphics we added the mute lan-
guage of fruits and flowers. These, with her large dark
eyes, the sweet movement of her lips, their touch, and our
fingers twined together as our young hearts beat tumult-
uously, seemed to me most eloquent and intelligible. Time
past rapidly as the little gusts of wind, flying over the
silvery surface of the tank of water at our feet, or as they
bent the flowers and passed on. Then we strolled about,
and ravaged the garden of its ripest and richests fruits,
when the greatest contention that ever passed between us
q 4

232 ADVENTURES OF

was, — who culled the best ? and which was the best ?
She grew animated in panegyrics on the fresh and luscious
date, and 1 declared it nothing in comparison with the
downy nectarine, and the lordly-crested pine-apple ; while
Aston, close behind us, gave it against us both in favour
of the mangostein, in which he contended were united the
flavours of the nectarine, the date, and the pine-apple, in
addition to its own.

<f Holla ! " I exclaimed — cc Aston ! I thought you
were gone to call on the commandant. It is too late now,
— the sun is hot, — I feel my blood boiling. Why did
you not go with De Ruyter ? — he has been off this hour."

" You are dreaming," answered Aston; " De Ruyter and
myself went off six hours ago, and here we are returned.
It is now mid-day, and we have been seeking you every
where. Dinner is waiting."

" Nonsense ! Zela and I came out here while you and
De Ruyter were drinking your coffee, and talking of going
into town. Certainly that 's not more than an hour ago."

iC Awake, you dreamer !" he said, " and look at the sun.
Don't you see it has passed the south, and is now above
your head ? Surely it must have affected your brain ! But
come, get up ; we, who count time by our appetites and
the calendar, want something more solid than the dainty
food of love.'*

Amazed at the unwonted rapidity with which the day
had flown, we returned to the house. Zela, ignorant of all
artifice, could only assure De Ruyter, in reply to his ban-
tering, that she did not know it was so late, that she feared
she had unconsciously dozed away the time, and that as we
had eaten of so many fruits, neither of us was hungry, and
we had never thought of dinner.

A YOUNGER SON. 233

CHAPTER XVIII.

And are you really, truly, now a Turk ?

* * * ' * * *

Is 't true they use their fingers for a fork ?

Well, that 's the prettiest shawl, as I 'm alive !

You '11 give it me ? They say you eat no pork. ' Byron.

The commandant, I was informed, was anxious to see me,
and had requested us all to dine with him. Aston had
been very kindly received.

Consequently, a few days after this, before the break of
day, we returned by the same route by which we had
come to the elevated plain, passed the Piton, and, by a
tolerable road, and a very agreeable descent, arrived at the
town of St. Louis. On this side the mountains slope as
smoothly down to the sea, as they rise abruptly and pre-
cipitously on the other side. The lands near the town
were highly cultivated. Groups of pretty cottages, with
green virandahs, were scattered about on the plantations,
which were separated from each other by double avenues
of trees. These were vacours, impenetrable from the
dense mass of barbed and pointed leaves, and the beautiful
scarlet and white blossomed rose- apple, growing in the
form of an olive ; and under their shade was the coffee-
tree. We saw a great variety of bananas, fields of pine-
apple, hedged by peach-trees, Persian roses, and a beau-
tiful Indian shrub, called netshouly ; while the willow-like
bamboo hung his head over the clear river, as if enamoured
of his own graceful form.

On arriving at the town, built close to the harbour, at
the mouth of the delightful valley through which we had
descended, and which was overhung by a lofty mountain,
we passed some tolerable houses in the suburbs, having
gardens filled with fruits and flowers. We then wound
through some narrow, dirty, unpaved streets of wooden
and mud tenements. As we approached the harbour, near
the quay, we came to the commandant's house, which

234* ADVENTURES OF

looked like a magnificent palace amidst the dwarf hovels
around.

The commandant received us with that urbanity and
equality which the French so readily put on ; and which
are so striking when compared with the dog-like surliness
of the rude and stiff-backed Englishman in power, who
looks at every stranger as an intruder that ought to be at-
tacked. He swells with paltry pride, puts on the air of a
muzzled bear, or vicious mule, and pats his dog, the em-
blem of his master, that struggles to break his chain and
fly at your throat, while you are growlingly asked, —
" What *s your business, sir?" If, forcing his nature,
he sulkily asks you to walk in, and if his wife happens to
be caught unprepared to receive you, she reddens with
anger, and with some gentle hint to her husband, bounces
out of the room like a fury. Unless you find some means
to appease her, for the whole day her temper is discom-
posed, and you are ever after considered as an intruder ;
or, if of high caste, she treats you with blank indiffer-
ence.

With our French commandant it was different; he went
to the other extreme, and loaded us with welcomes. While
refreshments were preparing, he took me into his lady's
dressing-room, and saying, — " I have brought you a
young Arab chieftain," — left us.

She made me sit by her on the couch, and asked me all
sorts of questions, never doubting I was not what I seemed.
She told me I was handsome, and my shawls were hand-
somer, wished to know if they came from Cashmire, why
I shaved my head, if I believed in the Virgin Mary, if I
had ever loved, and if I would be christened. Her hands
kept pace with her tongue till she almost stripped me to
examine my apparel. My skin, she said, was very smooth,
not very black, and she asked if Arab women were hand-
some, and if I liked the French women. Then she told
me she was returning shortly to France, because she could
no longer endure the heat, the barbarous people, the want
of society, the want of an opera, of every necessary of
life, — except the real ones, which she allowed were good
and abundant, — but these she did not want. Here she

A YOUNGER SOX. 235

was interrupted by De Ruyter, a great favourite of hers.
She called him the only real gentleman on the island, as
he had passed many of his early years in France and at
Paris. Upon which she talked unceasingly of Paris.
{i Dear De Ruyter," she said, (i does this boy belong to
you ? Where did you get him ? I have taken a great
fancy to him, and positively I am determined to take him
to Paris. Only think what a sensation he will make
there ! Well ! it is wonderful these people, who live on
the sands, with the lions and tigers, should have such a
distinguished air, and carry themselves so well ! And
then, my dear De Ruyter, only think what he will be
when he has passed a winter in Paris, and learnt to waltz !
Well, you are a dear creature, — and remember you have
given him to me. Plow beautifully he puts on his tur-
ban, and — what is your name ? Come, show me how
you fold your turban. Every one in Paris will be dying
in love with — your turban and shawls/1

She ran on in this style till wearied ; then vowing I
should remain with her, and that she could not bear me
out of her presence an instant, she threw herself on a
couch, and pointed to me to get a punka and fan. iC Ah !
who would live here," she ejaculated, 6* where the heat is
so insufferable that a person cannot say a single wrord of
welcome to an old friend, without being ready to expire !
I declare I have not spoken three sentences this month.
And this boy must be wearied too. You know our house,
De Ruyter ; and do — that *s a dear creature — send some
cf my women, — and reach me that Eau de Cologne."

After a sumptuous tiffin, the commandant conducted us,
together with the captain and some of the officers of the
corvette, which was then lying in Port St. Louis, to a
reading room, which the merchants had built for literary
pursuits and the improvement of the island. There we
found all the principal persons assembled, military, civil,
and mercantile, The commandant was requested to read
an address of thanks to the captain of the corvette, De
Ruyter, and their officers and crews, for the important
benefit they had effected in the extinction of the pirates at
St. Sebastian. The French captain added that their success

236 A3 VENTURES OP

was to be attributed to De Ruyter's skill and intrepidity.
The commandant then presented the two captains with
handsome swords, and the first lieutenant of the corvette
and myself with silver-gilt goblets, bearing inscriptions.
The commandant, in compliance with De Ruyter's wish,
previously made known, from delicacy to Aston and me,
did not refer to the affair with the English frigate.

We then separated, after a renewal of refreshments, and
looking over the books and newspapers. On returning to
the commandant's house, where there was to be a public
dinner, his lady insisted on our all sleeping during the heat
of the day ; but I made my escape, and went to look at
the ships in the port. The beautiful American schooner
was there, and I could have passed the day in gazing on
her symmetry and the exquisiteness of her model ; but the
groans of the slaves, staggering under their burdens, their
sweaty brows, wan eyes, and galled backs covered with
flies, drove me way. I then wandered about the town.
Out of a population of seventeen or eighteen thousand,
there were not more than seven or eight hundred Euro-
peans ; and these were a motley crew of all nations ; con-
sequently the proportion of slaves was immense. They
were chiefly from Mosambique and Madagascar, and the
islands scattered about. Some of them were free, and
excellent mechanics, — very good and industrious. Most of
them spoke French, and many spoke English. They were
admirable accountants and linguists. I saw neither horses
nor carts ; slaves and buffaloes were the only animals em-
ployed ; these did all the work. I wandered about the
suburbs, where the natives exclusively reside, went into
their hovels, and talked with them, till I thought it time
to return to the commandant's.

After bathing, I dined with a large party there. The
conversation ran principally on la grande nation, the
pirates, and Paris ; only one of which I had seen, wished
to see, or cared about. I remember a gawky, convex-bel-
lied, bilious, hawking Frenchman, with a mouth as large
and deep as a horse's, eyes yellow as topazes, no forehead,
no complexion, no hair, with a nose like a squashed fig,
the usual characteristics of his nation, and he asserted that

A YOUNGER SON. 237

London was as inferior to Paris as the black town of the
Isle of France was to Calcutta. I was rejoiced to get
away from these vain, gasconading harlequins, and accom-
pany the commandant on horseback to a magnificent open
space, planted with trees, in the outskirts of the town,
surrounded by hills, with summer cottages of every de-
scription. We then, to my great delight, returned to-
wards our home, the commandant accompanying us part of
the way.

CHAPTER XIX.

And, oh ! that quickening of the heart, that beat

How much it costs us ! Yet each rising throb

Is in its cause, as its effects, so sweet,

That wisdom, ever on the watch to rob

Joy of its alchemy, and to repeat

Fine truths. Byron.

In my impatience to be at home, I took little notice of the
scenery. De Ruyter asking me what I thought of the
lady, I replied, u I think her a little angel ! She is so
gentle, of so heavenly a disposition, with such noble sen-
timents, and high courage ! And though she is extremely
silent, that arises from timidity and thoughtfulness ; for
such eyes and such a mouth were never meaningless ! "

(C Take a turn there, my lad ! — you have said enough.
I will allow you she has all the beauty pertaining to her
nation, — that is, youth and dress. As to all the other
charms you have enumerated, I have not discovered the
smallest indication of their existence, neither in her, nor
in her nation, — and I have lived among them. What
do you mean by timidity? — the air and carriage of a
courtezan ! As to her thoughtfulness, you may as well
call these noisy, screaming parrots contemplative. Then
her extreme silence ! — I would rather he in a whirlpool,
with a hurricane over my head, or be condemned to the
galleys for life, than endure the torture of a French wo-
man's tongue an hour a day in a tropical climate !*'

238 ADVENTURES OF

u A French woman ! " I exclaimed ; " whom do you
mean ?"

" Mean ! whom should I mean but the woman we have
passed the day with ! "

" Oh ! I had quite forgotten her ! I was talking of
Zela!"

" Ha ! ha ! " he replied laughing, u you are the lad
who —

' Wrote to his father ending with this line,
My dearest Zela, J am ever thine I '

I thought you had more of the eagle's aspirations than to
stoop so low. It is rightly called falling in love, for a
man can fall no lower. Great spirits are never enslaved
by so grovelling and feeble a foe. You are greedily gloat-
ing on a poison, which will destroy all the noble feelings
and energies of your character. You have now as inex-
tinguishable a fire in your bosom as that which is burning
in the dome of this mountain ; and, mark me ! it will de-
stroy you as it will that hill, granite though it be. Poor
boy, I pity you ! for I see you have resigned yourself, a
willing slave, to the worst and most enervating of human
passions. Women are like parasitical plants, casting their
wild tendrils from one tree to another, till, swollen into
tough cordage, they strangle those they embrace, and
luxuriate in their decay. That broad and open forehead
indicates a judgment, which, when matured to fulness,
ought, with its iron grasp, to crush the reptile passion,
soon as it has birth. Men like you are for nobler uses,
for actions that may benefit mankind, not to be dedicated
to the narrow, paltry, selfish views and gratifications of a
solitary individual, however worthy. What ! devote
yourself to the childish pastime of fondling a tawdry toy,
a baby's doll !" Seeing me silent and sad, he ended by
quoting his favourite authority on all questions, but, like
all others, quoting only for his own purpose : —

" Rouse yourself j and the weak wanton Cupid
Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold,
And, like a dew-drop from the lion's mane,
Be shook to air."

Soon after he added, by way of softening the pain his
if unts had given me, {C I do not mean to censure you for

A YOUNGER SON. 23Q

loving Zela. She is your wife,, dependent on you, and
most worthy to be loved. But I object to your exclusively
loving her, and withdrawing your affections from others,
together with your time and talents, which can be bene-
ficially employed/'

He then talked on other subjects, and endeavoured to
awaken that interest which heretofore I had taken regard-
ing general topics, as well as in those connected with my
own particular duties.

Perhaps to avoid further discussion, I spurred on a
long way before De Kuyter. On ascending the eminence
on which our dwelling stood, I was surprised at observing
all the blinds and windows closed of the centre room. It
was the cool time of the evening, the sun had dipped be-
hind the western hill, and the sea-breeze was blowing
freshly. I feared something was wrong, — some accident.
As Zela was alone in my thoughts, notwithstanding De
Ruyter's censure on love, I hastened round to the back of
the house, forced one of the blinds, and jumped into the
large room. The sudden transition from light to gloom
prevented me from distinguishing any thing ; but calling
out ce Who is there ?" a voice replied, ic Close the win-
dow, — he will escape ! Shut the window, — they will
escape !"

As I advanced, I stumbled into the water channel, the
voice still vociferating, fi Shut the window, — oh, they
will escape ! they will escape ? "

Recovering my footing, and looking up, a ghost-like,
lean, and shadowy figure came towards me. I soon re-
cognised the sound of the flabby foot on the pavement,
and then distinguished, by the aid of a small lamp held in
a horny hand, the light reflecting through it the unearthly
visage of Van Scolpvelt. In his left hand he held a long
white bamboo, which he waved like a wand, preparatory
to an incantation. He passed without noticing me, his
eyes strained almost out of their sockets, staring towards
the ceiling. He shut the blinds with his wand, then kept
waving it aloft, and muttered, " They have not escaped
me, — there they are ! — and the air has done them good.
They were merely somewhat vertiginous, and have re-

240 ADVENTURES OF

sumed their vivaciousness. Well, it is wonderful I Look

— is that you, captain ? I thought it was one of the
blacks, — I am glad you are come, for you will be de-
lighted with these gay, sprightly quadrupeds, wantoning
about in the air."

c< What do you mean ? I see no quadrupeds. I be-
lieve you are the devil, or you could not stand the suffo-
cating heat of this room."

i( Heat ! I feel no heat. Now, don't open the windows

— you will destroy me. I shall be satisfied in a few mi-
nutes more. Do look at them !"

" I see them, and hear their faint cries. What are
you at with these birds ? Are you conjuring with them
or what ? "

" Birds ! Humph ! I thought you must be very ig-
norant, on account of your opposing science. Birds ! —
they are no more birds than I am. They are viviparous
classed in the same order of animals as yourself. You
threw my Spallanzani away the other day, when I sent it
you, or you would not be so ignorant as to call a bat a bird.'

(C Come, Van, open the windows, I am sick."

" Sick ! what consequence is that ? Am not I here ?
I wish you to witness the success of the experiment.
Would you not, observing their motions, conclude they
had the use of their visual orbs ? Would you imagine
the cornea had been burnt out ? "

" Burnt out!"

" Yes, this half hour."

" What brute did it?"

Zela, the window being now open, came in weeping,
and said, " I am glad you are returned, — that horrid
yellow Indian has been catching all the poor creatures he
could, and putting out their eyes with hot needles/'

Van, it appeared, coming to see De Kuyter, found some
bats in the ruined wall of an old well. He had caught
three, blinded two with a hot wire, and scooped out the
eyes of the third. Then he let them loose in the room to
see if they could direct their flight with the same rapidity
and precision as before they were thus horribly deprived
of sight.

A YOUNGER SOX. 241

He termed it an interesting, delightful, and satisfactory
experiment. i( Spallanzani," said he, " essayed it on the
common hat, but I on the vampyre and spectre species.
To-night I will determine another question. It is asserted
they are such admirable phlebotomists as to insinuate- their
tongues, which are aculeated like the finest lancets, insens-
ibly into the veins of persons asleep, using their long wings
as a fan to soothe their slumbers, and thus extract an immense
quantity of blood. They prefer the veins on the back of
the neck, or on the temples. Sometimes the victim in-
sensibly bleeds to death. Now," turning to me, C( you
are young, heated, feverish, and your veins are large and
full, — will you repose by the old well to-night ? I will
regulate the quantity, and stop the after-bleeding, which
is the only danger. Think of the advantage you will con-
fer on science, as well as the benefit to yourself ! For, if
it is true, cupping-glasses, leeches, and other means of
bleeding, may be advantageously superseded by this inesti-
mable phlebotomist. Then, in the morning, we will pro-
ceed to the examination of the physiological construction
of its tongue ; as that may throw some new light by which
the lancet may be improved."

Van warmed with the idea, and grew eloquent. I knew
how vain it was to contend with him on these points, and
therefore contented myself with giving him a flat denial,
and expressing my abhorrence of what he had already
done. Upon this he tried to coax De Ruyter and Aston
to submit to the experiment ; but, finding them deaf, he
put on his most whining look, and was shuffling towards
Zela, — she ran off like a hare. Sputtering about the ig-
norance of womankind, and the prejudice of mankind, he
declared that he himself would have his bed by the well
side, which he actually directed to be done.

24>2 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XX.

Grim reader ! did you ever see a ghost ?

No : but you 've heard j — I understand — be dumb

And don't regret the time you may have lost,

For you have got that pleasure still to come. Byron,

Aston and I vowed we would practise some trick on
Scolpvelt, in return for his cruelty to the bats, and quickly
decided on our operations. While De Ruyter accompanied
him to supper, I went, with a couple of black boys, to
survey the localities of the well. It was built in the
eastern manner, broad and deep, with steps leading to the
bottom. With difficulty I descended, the steps being
broken and worn away, the sides overgrown with dark and
rank vegetation, night-flowers, and creepers, and towards
the bottom blackened and clogged with the dung of bats,
and slippery from the slime of toads, which raised a hoarse
and discordant clamour as I thrust a bamboo down to try
the depth of the water. Satisfied there were only two or
three feet, and having partly cleared the bushes away, I
ascended and made my arrangements. A cot of De Ruy-
ter's having been brought, we placed it with the head to-
wards the steps of the well, passed a rope through the
rings at the two ends, and then a loose lashing round it,
to haul-taut when he had turned in. A large pepul-tree
grew near, with one of its branches crossing the mouth of
the well, and darkening it with its dense foliage. On this
bough a block was lashed, and the rope rove through it.
Having instructed the boys in the parts they were to play,
I returned to the house to equip them properly.

As I entered the room to call De Ruyter away, it
having been agreed that Aston was to be left to entertain
Van till he chose to retire to his berth, I could not refrain
tarrying an instant in admiration of his discourse. " I
wish/' he exclaimed, " my mother had not brought me
into the world, or that I had been born a thousand years
antecedent to this dark age, in which I behold the sun

A YOUNGER SON. 243

setting on science. Had men been wise, had they en-
couraged it to the utmost, it would progressively have
advanced, till it ascended above the dark clouds enve-
loping us, and the chemist, with his galvanic battery,
would be no longer destroying, but creating. New planets
with immortal beings might then by science have been
created, as by science they have been created out of pre-
existing matter. Oh ! my mother, had you lived to this
dark period, when I cannot find a man rational enough to
sleep by a well ! You, my mother, who loved and
honoured nothing but science, and me, your only child,
for my devotion to it, you knew how long and ardently
the Scolpvelts had pursued their god-like profession : and
when, from intense study, your eye became diseased, and
I told you it would end in cancer, if not removed, you
said, — f My son, remove it/ On the instant I did so,
and she uttered not a groan, but leant back unconfined in
her arm-chair, smiling approbation at my unshaken
nerves ! " Then exultingly he added, — " And where
will you find such a woman now ?"

He lit his ecume de mer, offended at our laughter,
which he at all times abhorred, and went and laid himself
down in his cot by the well. Aston had promised to give
a look to Van every hour.

We now proceeded to fit the black boys for their parts.
De Ruyter mixed up some chenam and lime, with which
he drew lines on their bodies, leaving the form of a skele-
ton distinctly marked out, — a white one on a black
ground. This, together with Malayan bows, covered with
blackened paper streaked with white, and attached to their
backs as wings, gave them a complete spectral appearance.
We then armed them with small needles, bound together
with thread, leaving a minute portion of their points bare,
and separated from each other, such as sailors use for tat-
tooing their skins.

A little after midnight, Aston and De Ruyter placed
themselves at the end of the tackle, to be hoisted at a
given signal ; I crawled, unperceived, under the pepul-
tree ; and the spectre-boys occupied stations among the
bushes on each side of the cot. There were actually seve-
r 2

244 ADVENTURES OF

ral of the dusky, monstrous, obscure bats flitting round and
round the well, while others were attached by their long
thin claws to the branches of the pepul, hanging with
their heads downward, immediately over Scolpvelt, who
lay on his back, and seemed anxiously watching them.
He looked like an ancient mummy partially unrolled. He
was furnished with a bandage to stop the bleeding, when
he should, in quality of physician, cry — " Hold, enough ! "
When I gave the signal, the boys rose from the bushes
with a shrill cry, flapped their skeleton wings, enclosed
him in the flaps of the cot, and hauled the lashing taut in
an instant. The signal to hoist was then made, and Van
ascended. I bore the cot over the mouth of the well, and
made the signal to lower away. The boys, playing all
sorts of antics, caught hold of the rope, jumped on the
cot, and pricked Van all over with needles, thickly as the
stings of a swarm of wild wasps. Meanwhile the cot was
lowered as fast as possible, when the bats, disturbed in
their haunts, sprung out in multitudes, flapping their
wings in disorder ; and the toads and rats, of which there
was an abundance, increased the din. When the cot was
landed at the bottom of the well, and the boys had cast off
the rope, and cut the lashing, we ran them up. We then
all joined in the shrill cry of the American Indians, by
screaming and patting the mouth with the hand, at which
the affrighted inhabitants of the well, undisturbed for cen-
turies, beasts, birds, and all the tribe of reptiles and ver-
min, burst from their dark abodes, appalled at the unwonted
summons.

To us, who were only looking down, it was a fearful
sight ; to Van at the bottom it must have appeared hor-
rible. We began to repent of our frolic ; but De Ruyter
said, C( No, he has the heart of a stoic. Either his phi-
losophy, or his fear, or both, — for they are not, though
thev ought to be, incompatible, — prevent his calling for

aid/*

u Hush ! " I whispered, (C I hear his fin going in the
water. He is moving, — and hark ! his croak rises above
the toad's."

We heard him muttering and stumbling about, groping

A YOUNGER SON. 245

his way ; then a splash in the water, as if he had slipped
his fin and undergone a ducking. Satisfied he was in no
immediate danger, but wishing to punish him for his bar-
barity, we left him till the expiration of the hour. Aston
then went, feigned surprise at not finding him, and walked
about the garden hallooing his name. I, who had fol-
lowed, heard him floundering in the water, cursing the
Lour in which his mother had brought him into the world,
the island, the bats, the well, and all the devils in it, in
Dutch, Latin, and English. At last Aston deigned to
hear him ; and, after allowing some time to elapse, we
proceeded with ropes and lights to release him. A boy,
lowered into the well, lashed a rope round his body, and
we ran him up to the pepul-bough with such force that
his trowsers and shirt were torn ; and he looked like a
felon hung in chains, with his rags fluttering in the wind.
When lowered on the ground, he was too exhausted to ar-
ticulate. The resurrection of Lazarus conveys but a faint
idea of him as he stood before us, with our lanthorns
thrust in his face. His head shook as if palsied, his thin
legs knocked together like bamboos in a gale, his skin was
stained with bat's dung and green slime, his face was of a
clay-cold blue, mottled with spots of blood, and his long
thin hair hung down like a mermaid's. With grizzled
eyebrows standing right out, he was sullen and snarling as
a jackall entrapped. Not a word was uttered in reply to
our incessant interrogatories, as we followed him to the
house. He scowled malignantly at me, as I persecuted
him with questions respecting the vampyres, how they got
him down into the well, and if they had bled him. A
tumbler of skedam, a dry shirt, and a bed, were prepared
for him in the hall. He sullenly and silently lay down.

b 3

2-i>6 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XXI.

When snouted wild boars routing tender corn

Anger our huntsman. Keats.

On the morrow Aston and I took our boar-spears, and as-
cended the woody part of the mountain. After wandering
for some time, we followed the course of a small stream,
almost consumed by the long drought. Its scanty waters
laboured in tortuous windings under the shade of trees and
shrubs, which, still verdant from the moisture, in grateful
homage bent over their feeble nurse, paying their tribute
of shade. The burning sun, like fire, seemed to be de-
stroying all around. The hardy oak and lofty pine, the
giant palm and the majestic teak, rising like chieftains
above the forest, with scorched and seared heads, appeared
drooping in anguish. Their shrivelled and red-spotted
foliage, and withered fruits, dropped from their sapless
branches, without a breath of air to move them, and
cracked under our feet. The noisy parrot tribe was
stilled ; and the restless monkeys, half-dozing in listless
apathy, hung on the branches, and let us pass unnoticed ;
or, if I awakened their attention by casting my spear or a
stone, slowly and sullenly they ascended a few feet higher,
or merely shifted their posts to the other side. No other
animal was to be seen. Yet, with the nerve and sinew of
youth, health, and strength, we seemed sun-proof, as we
bounded along, regardless of all impediments of bush,
bamboo, or briar, clearing the path with our spears, and
forcing a passage, like the wild-boar which we were seek-
ing, and only reminded by our appetites of the approaching
hour of noon.

Then, crossing the streamlet, we descended towards the
house, when we were surprised at the report of a musquet
close to us, loud as a cannon, owing to the stillness around,
and echoing from rock to rock. In an instant the wood
was in an uproar with its alarmed inhabitants. As we
hastened to the spot whence the gun was fired, a wild

A YOUNGER SON. 247

sow burst out of the hollow trunk of a broken tree, fol-
lowed by her litter of young, rilling up the concert with
their most sweet voices. Aston and I gave a loud holloa,
and sprang after them. The mother, brutish as she was,
turned at bay, and opposed her breast to our pointed
weapons, forgetting all but her children. I wish my good
mother would sometimes think of hers ; it is so long since
she gave them birth, that perhaps she may not remember
she ever had any. In my eagerness I got before Aston,
and heedlessly rushing on, the shaft of my spear snapped, as
the weapon, ill-directed, glanced off from the sow's hard
and wrinkled hide, and, the ground being dry and slippery,
I fell before her. She gave me no pause to rise; I
grasped the small creese in my bosom, and lost not my
presence of mind; though her small and fiery eye, her
wrinkled snout and huge tusks, looked terrific as she was
dashing in on me. Aston exclaimed, — ce Lie still ! —
don't move ! " and I felt his lance glide over me, as he
forced it under the sow's left shoulder through the heart,
and almost through the body, which fell dead upon me.

Another voice then exclaimed, — e{ He'll make excellent
hams ! I'll carry him down, and salt and cure him ! "
upon which I found my limbs were caught hold of.

" I'll be hanged if you do ! " I answered, as I got up,
and confronted Louis, who had that morning arrived at
the house with provisions.

' ' Oh ! " said he, " I did not see two, I thought there
was only one ! " — then stooping down, and handling the
swine, he chuckled over it with delight, as he feasted, in
imagination, on its carcase ; till, catching the sound of the
little grunters, squealing and running about in quest of
their dam, "Ah !" he cried out, iC she has little ones, —
has she ? Why didn't you tell me that ?"

We succeeded in catching the greater part of the litter.
Louis fondled, kissed, and hugged them, called them his
pretty dears, bade them not cry, promised to take as much
care of them as their own mother had done ; and then,
turning to us, inquired if we were hungry, and if he
should light a fire and roast a couple of them, by way of
tiffin, to give us an appetite for dinner. We asked him
r 4*

248 ADVENTURES OF

what he had been firing at. (i Oh, I had quite forgot ! ''
he replied ; " first let me tie these lovely little creatures,
two and two, by the legs, and I'll show you what I've
been shooting; — it is not dead yet."

He led us a few paces off, under a large tree, from
one of the horizontal branches of which was suspended a
huge baboon. His entrails were hanging out, and the
blood was running down in a stream, yet, in pain and
agony, clinging with his hind feet to the branch, he mowed
and chattered at us. Louis forthwith reloaded his long
gun, and, as he pointed the barrel upwards, the poor brute
seemed sensible of his impending fate. His rage gave
way to fear ; he cast one piteous glance, made a last effort
to move from his perilous and exposed situation, and, ere
the gun was fired, dropped down lifeless. Louis promptly
seized him by the nape of the neck, and cut his throat.
It looked so like a human murder that I shuddered, and
said, " Come along, — leave him there, — leave him !"

" What for ? " said Louis. u I '11 not leave him ; it is
the best eating in the world ! If you don't know that,
you know nothing."

c'Bah!" said Aston, <e the fellow's a cannibal; come
along."

We left him, promising to send some servants to
bring down the wild sow, and hastened down the hill,
We found Van Scolpvelt seated under a prickly pear
hedge ; he had a large, old, musty folio spread out before
him, and was intently occupied in looking at something
with a magnifying glass. He took no notice of our ap-
proach, but resumed working with a small knife; and
I discovered he was (still untamed in his cruelty) at what
he termed vivisection on an unfortunate hedgehog. He
said to Aston, with asperity, " Take a lesson here ! Look
at this heroic little animal," (drawing his knife across
him,) (i you see he is alive, has muscles and nerves, yet he
neither moves nor makes a noise ! "

A YOUNGER SON. 24fQ

CHAPTER XXII.

Our talk grew somewhat serious, as may be

Talk interrupted with such raillery

As mocks itself, because it cannot scorn

The thoughts it would extinguish. Shelley.

A lovely being scarcely formed or moulded,

A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded. Byron.

Entering the house, we saw De Ruyter busy with his
books and journals. He asked me to look over the ship's
books and letters ; when my attention was called off by a
discussion between Aston and De Ruyter. The former
was urging the latter to publish some journals he had
written, and permitted us to read. I was struck with
De Ruyter' s reply. " If," said he, ei I were ambitious of
an immortal name, and had genius enough to insure it by
writing, I would not write. Action, when pure, bright,
and unsullied, is the nobler sort of immortality ; and
writing, unless our actions correspond with it, is to be re-
membered but as Seneca's. How few of the ancient Greek
and Roman heroes were authors, yet how many live to us
in their deeds. iEschylus, Sophocles, and Homer are
read; but Socrates, Timoleon, Leonidas, Brutus, Portia
and Aria are known. Signal actions of heroism, devotion,
and generosity have saved them from oblivion. Immor-
tality, conferred by action, is fully as honourable, and
infinitely more universal than that conferred by writing.
For millions are incapable of comprehending the ideas of a
great author, who are warmed and made to glow at the
narration of a noble or generous deed. Content, during
my life, to be thought well of by those I love ; to
the world in general, now and hereafter, I am indifferent.
I value your good opinion beyond the approbation of the
French government. They have written me here that
you are to be — (but it is a, general order) — imprisoned
until exchanged. But I selfishly inclined to live in your
good opinion^ give you your liberty unconditionally ; and

250 ADVENTURES OF

will procure you a passage to one of your ports, when you
grow tired of our dull life here."

" If I am to wait till then/' answered Aston, "it
will never be ; for, till the present period, I have hardly
ever enjoyed rational pleasure, or felt a delight in my ex-
istence, such as I now feel. I am perfectly content here ;
I have not a wish ungratifled ; and my happiness would
be complete, but from the uncertainty of its duration.
So that I must candidly confess my lips would belie my
heart, if I thank you for this news."

" Then spare your thanks, and stay where you are," he
said, getting up and wringing his hand. "Stay where
you are, and leave the rest to me. I will manage the
commandant ; and from what you have told me of your
affairs, it cannot injure you in your own service."

iC Curse the service I" said Aston, as De Ruyter went
out of the room* " I was a silly boy when I entered it,
and have been a besotted fool to continue in it, till I am
unfitted for any rational pursuit, by which I might earn
my bread. I have been in it from ten years old till now
that I am five-and-twenty, never three months on shore,
my skin nearly burnt black by the sun, and my hair
grizzled with storms ; this, with a sprinkling of scars,
occasional rheumatic twitches, and the rank of lieutenant,
is all I have yet got, or am likely to get."

ec Yes," I added, u you will get a snug berth in Green-
wich Hospital, — a nice little cabin there, six feet by five,
all to yourself, with grubbery, free of rent and taxes, a
cabbage-garden to ruralise in, and three half-pence a day
— backee money ! What can man wish more ? "

Aston went on bewailing his hard destiny, and I dosing
him with consolation derived from the hospital. However,
it ended with my persuading him to continue for some
time where he was, and to wait for an opportunity of our
putting him on board one of the country vessels, or of
landing him on the coast near one of the English settle-
ments. I must confess I often urged him, with all the
warmth of my character, and my friendship for him, to
relinquish a service where he was hopeless of promotion,
and, as he was destitute of fortune, to join with us ; by

A YOUNGER SON. 251

which means he would, after a few years, in ail probability,
be enabled to return to his own country, or to any other,
with the means of enjoying — his sole ambition — a country
life. <( For," I continued, u a man without money has no
country. Besides, Aston, you are a Canadian born ; and
if you go to England without money, remember there are
certain unsightly boards at the entrances of the towns,
neatly painted, and swung gibbet- fashion, intimating some
awkward, ungentlemanly sort of hint to persons without
money ; something to this effect — Vagrants are not ad-
mitted here. So that Greenwich — " Here he stopped
me, by taking down a boar- spear, and I jumped out of
the window.

Nor would he ever seriously listen to my propositions on
this subject ; he was not to be moved. As to De Ruyter,
I believe he never thought of such a thing ; though he
and Aston were firm and inseparable friends.

I went down to the port where the grab lay, paid the
men a considerable share of prize-money, and discharged
the greater number, merely leaving sufficient to take care
of her, under the command of the good old Rais. I made
an arrangement with him that I should go on board the
grab twice a week, and that he should come up to us on
two or three of the other days. Thus, having settled
every thing regarding her, I gave up mind, body, hearty
and soul to the full enjoyment of our rural life. Nearly
every day I explored the island in some new direction,
discovered where game most abounded, and in what rivers
and lakes were the finest fish, sometimes with De Ruyter,
at other times with Aston. On good sporting days we all
went together, taking provisions with us, and dining in
the woods ; when Louis, who had little to do on board,
was our caterer. When the weather was favourable for
working in the garden we were occupied there ; when it
was wet or stormy we fenced, read, wrote, or employed
ourselves in drawing. We wrent as seldom as possible to
the town, notwithstanding the almost daily solicitations
from the commandant's lady, officers, and merchants. De
Ruyter, and indeed all of us_, hated what is called society.
He had therefore chosen a place for his house, well nigh

252 ADVENTURES OF

inaccessible during the rainy season ; thus artfully avoid-
ing intrusion on his solitude by frivolous, idle, and
troublesome visitors, such as swarm in every garrisoned
town, quoting the words of the French philosopher,
Morin, " Those that come to see me, do me honour ; and
those that stay away, do me a favour." When some of
them did venture, their whole discourse was about the
perils they had passed in fording rivers and swamps ;
while De Ruyter provokingly pointed out with what
facility it might be remedied, and talked, after his next
voyage, of looking to it. But when they had left us, he
would say, cc I wonder how they managed to get here so
easily. We must dam the water up to increase the swamp
and the torrent, and add to the vibration of the bamboo-
bridge."

Yet he was no churl. All worthy men were welcome ;
he himself would be their guide ; and, as the door flew
open at their approach, he clasped their hands, and every
feature in his face expressed how heartily they were
welcome. He felt, and he made them feel, that their
acceptance of his hospitality was a proof of their great
friendship for him. The longer they stayed, the more
he was obliged ; and if they left him before their affairs
compelled them to be gone, his brow darkened with un-
quiet thoughts. In few houses where I have lived,
(married men's, of course, out of the question,) did every
guest, as well as the host, enjoy so much liberty as in
De Ruyter's. If fellows, calling themselves gentlemen,
resembled him, they would require no slang dialect, no
polish to their boots, or starch to their shirts, to point
them out.

My little orphan bride, thank heaven ! knew nothing of
civilisation. Her shyness was that of the wood-pigeon,
not the coquette's. She, poor simple thing, thought her
husband alone should dwell in her thoughts ; and imagined
not that fashion had made that a crime in my country,
more heinous than adultery. The circumstances of our
first meeting, our ship-life, then our dwelling together in
scenes formed for love, perfected in a few months what
years would have, perhaps, been too short for in ordinary

A YOUNGER SOX. 253

situations. Besides, the custom of her country was in
our favour, where courtship is wisely dispensed with. I
say wisely, because, while youth and beauty are wooed,
judgment is blinded by passion. In the east these matters
are better contrived ; the process is summary ; parents,
whose judgments are matured, and whose passions are
withered, conclude the necessary preliminaries ; and the
bride and bridegroom meet, and are married in the same
hour. c< For/' said the old Rais, and he was wise,
<e young men and women are like fire and gunpowder;
they should therefore be carefully kept apart from each
other, as on board the grab." It is notorious that, in
Europe, diplomatic mothers know how much, for their
own interest, is to be effected by dress and address,
importunity and opportunity, with young persons. There
the unmarried talk of domestic happiness and conjugal
affection ; at which, I have observed, the married wince,
as the horse does under the torture of the firing iron; —
some, indeed, with heads as hard as rams, and hides wife-
proof, endure the yoke with magnanimity. It is in the
east that wedded love reigns triumphant; where the
unmarried alone are the poor, the houseless, and the
despised.

Zela, though young, was familiar with death ; and as
grief for her lost parent faded, her affections were re-
awakened by me, their only claimant, and mine were all
dedicated to her. I taught her my language, and learnt
more of hers, — it was all she knew. Our breath mingled
as I bent over her, our lips met, and our hearts beat
together. She was an apt scholar, though her only punish-
ment for idleness or neglect was the infliction of kisses,
which were so long and ardent, that our lips seemed to
grow together. She became the companion of my rambles,
and, with a light hunting spear, followed me through the
woods, and up the mountains. Her fairy form was endued
with wonderful strength and agility. If stopped by a
torrent, or a rugged ravine, I bore her in my arms; and,
m the jungles, cleared the path before her. Our happiness
could admit of no augmentation ; it was perfect. In these
our halcyon days, we thought no more of what others

254 ADVENTURES OP

were about in the world, than of what was doing in the
rnoon or stars. Those who dwelt with us occupied the
small portion of our thoughts and affections, which could
be spared from our deep and overwhelming devotion to
each other ; and Aston always, and afterwards De Ruyter,
sympathised with our feelings, and glowed with admiration
at witnessing such strange and matchless love.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Rapt in the fond forgetfulness of life,

Neuha, the South Sea girl, was all a wife ;

"With no distracting world to call her off

From love ; with no society to scoff

At the new transient flame ; no babbling crowd

Of coxcombry in admiration loud,

Ofc with adulterous whisper, to alloy

Her duty, and her glory, and her joy. Byron.

We had now been some months luxuriating in a tranquil
life, little disturbed or marked by events worth recording,
every moment of which lives fresh in my memory, when
De Ruyter received intelligence that determined him to
prepare for sea. His spirit knew no pause when an object
was to be obtained. His mind, like a lens, concentrated
its power into one piercing ray. From the instant he
arrived on shore he had doffed his sea-garb, put on that of
a planter, and with it the character. They both sat on
him so well that a stranger would have thought he never
had worn any other. Horticulture and agriculture, pruning
and planting, exclusively occupied him, hand and heart.
He never went down to the port, detested the smell of tar,
said the sight of the sea made him qualmish, and cursed
the sea-breeze for uprooting his sugar-canes, and destroy-
ing his young plantations. He interdicted the use of
nautical phrases, and forbade salt junk to be brought into
his house.

So that one day, when he hailed me from the balcony,

A YOUNGER SON. 255

as I was at work in the garden, with — " Holloa ! my
lad, — heave ahead ! — you're wanted ! " I threw down
my spade and entered the house, ready to tax him with
his sea-slang. But I was stopped, on entering the room,
by observing the floor covered with charts, a case of in-
struments lying open, and himself kneeling and measuring
distances with a scale and compasses. The tall spare
form of the Arab Rais leaned over him, pointing with a
sea-bleached hand to a group of islands in the Mosambique
channel. As De Ruyter was too intently occupied to
perceive me, I looked for a while, first at one, and then at
the other. The hazy film which hung on his eyes when
he was calm had evaporated, and they sparkled; all his
face was lighted up, and its muscles in motion. I then
looked at the Rais ; but his features were as little subject
to change as a ship's head, stained with tar and tempests ;
his face was like an antique sun-dial, with its surface
corroded and effaced, no longer marking the passing hour.
" Ha I my boy," said De Ruyter, " we must be stirring.
Order out our cattle. We must go down to the port."

He then rose up, took off his white jacket, and shipped
a blue one. I asked no questions, but followed his ex-
ample, and off we started. His little acheenian pony kept
not pace with his rider's impatience. u Come," he said,
" let us leave these ambling stumbling brutes, only fit for
monks, and cross the hills on foot by the compass."

We gave them to a servant, climbed the hills, and made
our path as straight, and our flight almost as rapid, as the
crane's. Arrived at the port, we pushed off in a canoe.
The instant he was on board of the grab, he resumed his
command with a stamp on the deck, when the idle Arabs,
who were listlessly lying in the sun, jumped up, and all
was life and motion. As he went about giving orders,
the new masts, spars, and sails, which had been preparing,
were now completing. The copper bottom of the vessel
was careened ; the elongated bow was unshipped ; the
upper works lowered ; and the grab was about to be con-
verted into a corvette.

When De Ruyter had instructed me in what he wished
to be done, he went on shore with the Rais, and crossed

%56

ADVENTURES OF

the land to Port St. Louis, to recruit his crew, complete
his stores, and arrange his other affairs. Immediately it
was known he wanted volunteers, sailors of all countries,
and all sorts of adventurers, flocked to him. His name
was enough; every man shipped for a cruise with him
thought his fortune made ; and, instead of slinking about
to avoid his creditors, he was again to be found carousing
and brawling in wine-shops, and lolling on shop-boards
and benches. The hollow in his cheek was again filled
with a quid, and his inconstant womankind now his con-
stant companion. But De Ruyter was fastidious in the
selection of men, particularly of Europeans, whom indeed
he employed as sparingly as he could, knowing the diffi-
culty of governing such lawless outcasts, and left the old
Rais in charge to make up the number of his crew from
Arabs, and various natives of India, which, in the crowded
port of this island, was no great difficulty.

Meantime we worked hard, day and night, on board
the grab, — as I shall still designate her, for she under-
went many transformations. In a few days, from looking
like a floating hulk, she became like a winged thing of life ;
and, in a few days more, like a ship of war. We painted
her sides of different colours, one entirely black, the other
with a broad white streak.

De Ruyter had given me to understand that he should
proceed to sea alone. He also informed me of the design
he had in view ; which was, to intercept some English
vessels in the Mosambique channel; and that he should
not be absent more than a month or six weeks. Ci In the
meantime," he said, "you can amuse yourself in over-
looking the plantations, and completing the improvements
we were about. You seem so perfectly happy here, are
become such a good planter, and there are so many things
that require a master's eye, that it is better, since one of
us must remain, that it should be your lot. Besides,
Aston must not be left alone. On my return, I have
more important designs in view. We will then refit, and
all embark ; when we can put Aston ashore in one of the
English settlements."

These and other reasons induced me willingly to con*

A YOUNGER SON. 257

sent ; and when De Ruyter had completed his water and
provisions, we had a carouse on board the grab, shook
hands, and parted. He weighed with the land-wind ;
and in the morning, at break of day, from a height, which
Aston and I had ascended, we saw her dark hull and white
canvass skimming the water like an albatross.

I continued the same sort of active, yet quiet and happy-
life. My love for Zela knew no diminution. Every day
I discovered some new quality to admire in her. She
was my inseparable companion. I could hardly endure
her out of my sight an instant ; and our bliss was as per-
fect as it was uninterrupted. My love was too deep to
fear satiety ; nor did ever my imagination wander from
her, to compare her with any other woman. She had
wound herself about my heart till she became a part of
me. Our extreme youth, ardent nature, and solitude, had
wrought our feeling of affection towards each other to an
intensity that perhaps was never equalled, assuredly never
surpassed. I went to the town only when affairs called
me thither, or to visit the commandant, with whom De
Ruyter had pointed out it was necessary to keep on a
friendly footing. His lady, wdio was really a good creature,
preserved her liking for me, and wished me much to put
Zela under her tuition ; that she might be instructed in,
what this lady called, the rules of civilised society, de-
claring she would be a gem of the first water, if set and
polished. Little as I had seen of polished and accom-
plished ladies, that little was enough to disgust me. Even
in their extreme youth their beauties are soiled by the
pawing and officious hands of dancing masters, music
masters, and French masters, whose breath is the essence
of garlic. Then, when properly drilled, and the necessity
of hypocrisy and lying inculcated by their mothers and
governesses, they are thrust into the stream (not a crystal
one) of fashionable life, rudely stared on, and examined,
point by point, by those, exclusively denominated gentle-
men, who earn the title from doing little but drinking and
gambling. If the girl has money, some sinking gamester
seizes on the occasion to keep himself afloat by marrying
her ; if she is poor, some old lechers, their dormant pas-

258 ADVENTURES OP

sions rekindled^ beset her; and if she escapes either of
these snares, a season or two of fashionable dissipation,
day-beds, fetid air, nightly waltzes and quadrilles, rob her
of youth ; when, with a mind tainted by vicious converse,
her rose-coloured cheeks now yellow, her bosom collapsed
like an ancient matron's, she could not, had she lived in
the most degraded places, have suffered more, or gained
less, from her bringing up and bringing out. Something
I had already seen of this, which determined me, from the
first, to leave Zela wild and unreclaimed as she came from
the deserts ; and I carried my dread of any innovation
in her country's customs so far that, had cannabalism
been one of them, I do not think I should have permitted
her to change it.

CHAPTER XXIV.

A sail ! — a sail ! — a promised prize to hope !

Her nation — flag — how speaks the telescope ?

She walks the waters like a thing of life,

And seems to dare the elements to strife.

Who would not brave the battle-fire — the wreck,

To move the monarch of her peopled deck ? Byron.

De Ruyter had been absent little more than five weeks,
when I was aroused, before the day, by a messenger,
with news of the grab's lying at anchor in Port St. Louis.
I sprang from my couch, asked no questions of the mes-
senger, but hurried through the gloomy wood, ascended
the Piton du Milieu with the fleetness of a roebuck, re-
gardless of falls and broken bones. When on the height
over the port, there still was not light enough to distinguish
the vessels : I could see only a confused mass of hulls and
masts. I hastened on. The morning gun announced the
daylight, when, running up a high bank, I saw the grab's
dark, long, low hull, and her masts towering above all
the other ships. She was lying outside the harbour; she
was in the act of hoisting her flag. A cable's length astern

A YOUNGER SON. 259

of her, my eye caught the beautiful American schooner,
floating buoyantly on the short and breaking sea (for it
had been blowing freshly during the night), like a sea gull.
What could she be doing there? She had left the Mauritius
for Manilla, and then to return to Europe. I was the
more astonished at observing her hoisting a French flag,
and an English ensign unfolding itself beneath. What
could it mean ? Certainly she had come in with De
Ruyter. I descended the bank, and my pace was not
slackened by this first excitement. I thought I should
never arrive at the port; and, when there, I was in despair
at the few minutes which elapsed ere I could get a boat to
take me on board. I passed one of the grab's boats going
on shore, but would not delay an instant in speaking her.
I seized hold of the stroke-oar, and pulled as if each stroke
was for my life. The clear and deep voice of De Ruyter
struck my ear, and in an instant our hands were clasped
together. His left hand was suspended in a sling : I
pointed to it, not having yet recovered my breath. He
smiled, and, in return, pointed to the schooner.

" What do you mean ?" I exclaimed.

ec Come down, my lad, and I'll tell you. After
cruizing some time on the northern coast of the Mosam-
bique channel, I received intelligence of an English
frigate's having run into Mocha in a gale of wind. To
avoid her, I stretched over to the Amaranti islands, be-
tween them and the amber shoal, during a tempestuous
night. I observed, or rather I imagined, for amidst
the lightning it was difficult to distinguish them, blue lights
and signal rockets to leeward. I kept my wind as well as
I could, thinking it might possibly be the frigate. Towards
daylight the wind lulled, and I soon after discovered, to my
great surprise, as well as joy, a sail on our lee- quarter, cer-
tainly not the frigate. She was to the northward and east-
ward; and, as we had been standing to the eastward, I could
only make out she was a fore-and-aft, and not a square-
rigged vessel. I got my top-gallant masts up? and bore
down to make her out better. We neared her fast, for
she was lying to, having, as it afterwards appeared, been
s 2

2f)0 ADVENTURES OP

struck by lightning, with the head of her foremast badly
wounded. As we neared her, I discovered, by her hull
and raking masts (for who that has once seen can mistake
her?) our Boston schooner. Now, doubly anxious to get
to her aid, I buried the grab's lean bow in the still heavy
swell, by crowding canvass on her, till I thought I should
have been dismasted too. The puny spars bent like bam-
boos, and the kiar backstays, strong and elastic as they are,
snapped like cast iron — not from having too much wind,
but too little. On showing my flag, I observed some
commotion on board of her, and marvelled at seeing her
soon after, despite of her crippled state, making sail, and
bearing up. You know the grab's point of sailing is not
before the wind ; nor is the schooner s, luckily. However,
she got her square-sail up, and, with her immense main-sail,
she seemed to hold her ground with us. In this juncture ,
a man at the mast-head called out, e Another strange
sail to leeward ! ' Pondering on what this could mean,
I saw the Boston schooner's main-sail jib; and, as she
broached to, the head of her foremast went by the board.
I pressed more sail on the grab ; and ere she could clear,
or rather cut away the wreck, which soon after floated past
us, I was within gunshot of her. I then fired my bow-
chaser, but without shot, to make her show her colours ;
but she did not show them till a second, with shot, was
fired over her and a third into her. The mystery was then
explained by her showing an English ensign. She had
been captured by the frigate which was to leeward of her.
They had been separated by the gale during the night.
There was no time to lose. The frigate, though a long
way to leeward, was in sight; yet it was probable, from
her great distance, and from our being smaller objects than
she was, that she had not yet seen us. The courage of
Englishmen is not to be subdued, under whatever cir-
cumstances they are encountered. Having cleared herself
of the wreck of the foremast, she bore down on her
consort, and kept up a fire on us with every gun she
could get to bear. Soon alongside of her, I was com-
pelled to give her several broadsides; and, keeping to
leeward of her, we cut off all possibility of escape. She

A YOUNGER SON. 9,Q\

then struck, and I took possession of her. I found she had
been "

u But/' I said, (( you have not yet told me what loss
you suffered, and what is the matter with your arm."

6C We had one man killed, two wounded, and my fin
shattered by a splinter/'

" Not much damaged, I hope ? "

" Oh, no;— nothing."

" What ! " said my old friend Van, who came into the
cabin with plaster and scissors, ec what do you call nothing?
I, that have practised for nearly half a century, never
saw a worse contused wound. Were not two out of the
three digital branches of the ulnar artery lacerated ? — the
bone denuded under the flexor profundus of the mid
finger ? — the first phalanx of the index finger shattered,
even to the socket of the metacarpal ? "

fi Bah ! " said De Buyter, " a feeler or two smashed and
jammed together."

" Yes," answered Van, looking at me with triumph,
and then with complacency on the swollen and disfigured
hand, which, having unbandaged, he laid on the table, and
examined: — "had I not amputated that index finger,
and removed every particle of splintered bone, — had you
been under any other surgeon's hand than mine, — you
would not have lost a mere finger, but the entire hand
up to the wrist. And now you call it nothing ! But
wounds are nothing, when I am by to heal them ; — such
is my art! I operate so gently" (applying a strong
wash of blue stone), ci that my patients are more inclined
to sleep than groan."

Perceiving that De Buyter winced, I said, " Yes,
Scolpvelt, you torture your patients into insensibility."

Without noticing this, he watched De Buyter, and
said, " I feel pleasure that you feel pain."

** The devil you do!"

" Oh, yes ! I am delighted ; for it shows that the sen-
sibility of the part is restored. I also observe that tie
muscle is granulating. Now we have only to use foment-
ations to subdue the swelling, and keep down the proud
flesh with lunar caustic. It will soon be well."
s 3

262 ADVENTURES OF

I greeted old Louis, who inquired kindly after the turtle
he had left with Zela ; and, while breakfast was preparing,
I went on deck to shake hands with the Rais, and my
old shipmates.

CHAPTER XXV.

Ay, we like the ocean patriarch ream,

Or only know on land the Tartar's home

My tent on shore, my galley on the sea,

Are more than cities and serais to me j

Across the desert, or before the gale,

Bound where thou wilt, my barb ! or glide my prow !

But be the star that guides the wanderer, thou !

Thou, my Zuleika ! Byron.

After breakfast De Ruyter related the conclusion of his
cruise. He found that all but five of the Americans, who
were ill of the fever, had been removed on board the
frigate; that seventeen men, with two junior officers of
the frigate, had been put on board of her, with orders to
keep company ; but, as has been mentioned, she was
separated in the squall. " I sent these men on board the
grab," said De Ruyter, cc replaced them with a strong party
of my best, took her in tow, and set about repairing her
damage with some of our spars. The frigate chased us,
and kept in sight two days, till I got among the Amaranti
islands. There (for I knew them well, which they did
not) I baffled her by anchoring, during the night, under
the lee of one of them. I saw no more of the frigate,
put a jury-mast in the schooner, and here I am, my boy.

<c Now take a boat, and go on board of her ; let us
work into the harbour; or — stop — you had better
remain in the grab, — the wind is dying away. I must go
on shore. Do you moor them close together in our old
berth. I '11 return in two or three hours. I must go and
talk to the commandant, get our prisoners landed, and see
the merchants to whom the Boston was consigned.
Though taken by the English, she was not yet con~

A YOUNGER SON. 263

demxied by them when I retook her; so I suppose T am
only entitled to salvage on her and her cargo ; — hut that
will be a heavy one."

This news a little damped my pleasure ; for I had
regarded the prize as ours, and doubted not having the
command of her, to obtain which was the climax of my
most aspiring wishes, and certainly I should have preferred
her to a dukedom. From our first meeting her at sea,
and especially when I afterwards examined her in port, I
had viewed her with a longing and jealous eye. The
apparent impossibility of possessing her made me covet
her the more. I would not only have sacrificed my birth-
right, but a joint of my body to boot, with all I had in
the world, except what was alone more estimable — Zela, —
to obtain her. De Ruyter had often bantered me on this ;
and now that my wish seemed within my grasp, I could
not comprehend his law of salvage. He had possession,
and that was the only law I considered just or rational.

I awaited his return with impatience, but when he came,
my impatience was left unsatisfied ; for he was to meet the
merchants in the evening. Next day brought the same
story, and so on for many days. I loathe the tardy
transactions of these grovelling serpents. I hate arith-
metical calculations; they do more mischief than earth-
quakes in destroying badly founded fabrics ; they are like
a Mameluke's bit to a fiery and impatient horse. I was,
however, like the horse, compelled to submission.

Much time was thus wantonly wasted, ere De Ruyter
had concluded arrangements to pay, instead of receiving,
certain sums, and give securities, and enter into certain
bonds, and sign deeds, all preliminary to retaining pos-
session of the schooner. However, it was accomplished ;
and, in less than a month after his arrival, I was installed
in my heart's desire. Aided by De Ruyter, I set about
refitting the schooner for sea. Whilst at work on board,
Zela stayed with me, . We all made occasional holidays
at the villa, which was left in charge of Aston.

When the grab and schooner were ready for sea, De
Ruyter gave me his instructions. In company we weighed
our anchors. De Ruyter had pretty well recovered the
s 4

26l« AITVENTURES OF

use of his hand. The Americans, who had been left on
board, and the four English sailors, taken with Aston,
had entered voluntarily to serve on board the schooner.
My crew had. been completed by De Ruyter, and was a
tolerably good one. I was armed with six twelve pound
carronades, and four long six pounders. We had pro-
visions and water for ten weeks. Zela, whom nothing but
force could have induced to remain behind, and that I
had no inclination to essay, was with me.

Thus, with all my wishes gratified, my joy was
boundless as the element on which I floated; and I
thought it would be as everlasting, — thanks to my being
no arithmetician, and not being gifted with the prescience
even of an hour. Accursed foresight ! which turns enjoy-
ment into misery by calculating on what is to ensue ! I
never did so; but went to sea with an exulting heart,
fearless and free as the lion, when he leaves his lair in
the jungles to hunt on the plains.

We steered to the northward, intending to make the
island of St. Brandon, thence to a group called the Six
Islands, and cruise in the northern Indian Ocean, crossing
the track of the vessels which run from Madras to Bombay
in the south-west monsoon. The first days were passed in
trying our respective rate of sailing, and getting the vessels
in their best trim. The grab beat every thing in India,
except, indeed, dead before the wind; with a heavy
swell, nothing hitherto had any chance with her but the
schooner. We now found, on repeated experiments, that,
in short tacks, we could beat her close on a wind ; but in
every other point of sailing she had the advantage, though
so small as still to leave a doubt about it.

We ran by the island of St. Brandon without meeting
with any particular event. Shortly after, I gave chase to
a brig, which I brought to. She proved to be French,
from the island of Diego Garcia, bound to the Mauritius.
Her captain told us he was employed in running to and
from that island, for fish and fresh turtle, which abounded
in its vicinity. It was uninhabited ; but some merchants
had sent him with a party of slaves thither : while taking
in his cargo, an English ship of war had nearly surprised

A YOUNGER SON. 2uO

him ; and, though he escaped, the slaves and his cargo
had fallen into their hands.

When De Ruyter heard this, we consulted with the
captain on the possibility of recovering the slaves and
cargo. De Ruyter, who was as fertile in plans as daring
in execution, soon determined on a stratagem to be carried
into effect by him and me. The brig, not being a very
crack sailer, he recommended to go into a port, which he
pointed out by his chart, in one of the Six Islands, which
had previously been agreed upon as our rendezvous, in case
of separation. This arranged, we made all sail, running
down, with a rattling trade wind, to Diego Garcia. The
form of this island is that of a crescent, containing, within
its band, a very small island, which, serving as a break-
water, afforded a spacious and secure harbour behind. On
making the island, and observing the frigate at anchor
there, we, in running down on the land, kept the little
island between us and her, which prevented our being
seen. We there anchored; and the next day getting under
weigh together, the grab ran down to leeward, disguised
like a slave ship, and appeared at the mouth of the har-
bour, as if ignorant of there being any vessel there ; till,
opening the frigate, which instantly got sight of her, she
wore round, and made sail, as if to escape.

The frigate, under the prompt and rapid hands of
English sailors, slipped her cable, and made sail in chase.
Yet time enough elapsed to give the grab a good offing,
and time for me to keep out of sight, by working up to
windward. I had landed a man on the little island, to
make signals of the frigate's motions, and timed it so well,
that, as she shut in the port, by rounding the projecting
angle of the island, I weathered the extreme point of the
little island, ran into the bay, hove to close to the shore,
and landed with a strong party of men.

The contrivance was so well managed, and so rapid,
that I surprised a party of the frigate's men, with the
slaves in custody, and others employed in cutting wood.
We embarked the slaves, and as much fish which had
been cured, and turtle, as we could during the four hours
I ventured to lie there. The remainder we destroyed.

266

ADVENTURES OF

As to my countrymen, their case seemed so vexaticusly
hard, — I left them; yet not before I made them declare
I was the best fellow in the world, — but then I had made
them all drunk. Besides, I had cheated them, hoisting
yankee colours, and they knew the schooner must be of
that country ; so that, instead of escaping to the woods
and hills, by running a hundred yards, they had awaited
our landing without suspicion, discussing the amount of
anticipated prize-money, and disappointed at having been
left by the frigate, when in pursuit of a flying Frenchman,
as they were certain the strange sail was, by her leanness
and fleetness. We parted such good friends that, as I
left the shore, they gave me three cheers, in return fcr
three bottles of rum I left with them.

CHAPTER XXVI.

No dread of death, if with us die our foes,

Save that it seems even duller than repose ;

Come when it will, we snatch the life of life

When lost — what recks it — by disease or strife ? Byron.

I then rounded the northern point of the island, and,
with a flowing sheet, scudded gallantly along towards the
port where we had engaged to meet; nothing doubting
the success of De Ruyter's stratagem to draw the frigate off,
and, after dogging her about to give me time, to escape in
the gloom of night.

The weather had been hazy, with violent squalls of
wind and rain, which was a favourable circumstance. We
had a speedy run down to the destined islands ; and the
grab and schooner almost simultaneously appeared to the
north and west, as entering the channel between the centre
of the cluster. We anchored together in a small but
secure port, sheltered from the winds, as well as from
observation, by a high and projecting bank stretching into
the sea, in the form of a bent arm.

A YOUNGER SON. 26*7

Next morning the brig made her appearance off the
island; and soon after came to an anchor. I left De Ruyter
to settle the business he came about, respecting the return
of the slaves, and went on shore. I remember nothing
particular of the natives, except that they were a simple-
hearted, hospitable people, chiefly fishermen. We pro-
cured goats, fish, fowls, and vegetables; and then took
our departure, standing towards the Mai dive Islands, to get
on the Malabar coast before the north-east monsoon, which
was approaching, should set in.

We soon after boarded and plundered several vessels,
naving English papers. Among these there was one with
a Dutch frow on board, whose beam was nearly as large
as the vessel's. She had a considerable investment of goods
belonging to herself, with which she was trading, between
Madras and Bombay, on her own bottom. Her late hus-
band had been in the employment of the English Company,
which was enough for me to condemn her as lawful prize.
After culling out some of the most valuable portion of the
cargo, and throwing overboard the most worthless, I recol-
lected we were in want of water. There were five or six
butts of that element on her deck. While I was waiting
to get out the long boat to send them on board the schooner,
the Dutch monster of a woman was smiling, ogling, and
coaxing me to come down in her cabin, praying and en-
treating I would not take the water. <c It is infernally
hot," said I, cc and I want water. Hand a bucket here ! M
(catching hold of a half empty cask.)

u Oh, that's not good," quoth the oily frow; "here,
boy, get some water out of the cabin. Oh, don't drink
that, captain ! I'll get you some wine, — Constantia,
from the Cape itself !"

" Come/' I ordered one of the men, <e knock out the
bung from this cask."

One was trying to wrench it out with his knife, and
the Dutch woman was entreating him to broach one of
the others, declaring that to be brackish. ei How comes
it then, you old frow, abroach ? I think you've got Con-
stantia here ! If so, I'll take it on board."

I seized on a crow-bar, and forced out the bung, mar-

268 ADVENTURES OF

veiling at the frow's eagerness to withhold me, and with-
draw my attention. I really believed there was something
uncommonly good in it, skiedam or wine, owing to her
protestations to the contrary. The bung out, I held a
bucket, as a man tilted over the cask; and, while the
clear water rushed out, and while I was laughing at the
beldam's pertinacity, she gave a scream, and I a shout
of surprise at what I first thought was some animal, but
was soon distinguished to be the end of a pearl necklace.
The frow's red face, as I pulled it out, and held it up to
her, became redder than a string of cornelians, which next
plumped into the bucket.

" Out with the head, and start the water ! — A lucky
prize ! Hands off, — or I TL cut them off ! Put the baubles
into the bucket/

We fished out a superb haul of rings, pearls, corals, and
cornelians, — a private spec of the Dutch frow, who,
during the chase, had thus cunningly secreted them.
But for my having taken a particular fancy to diving into
that cask, not wishing to broach a full one, we should
have missed this pearl fishery.

We made a stricter search, but discovered nothing else.
Giving back to the frow a ring, not one of the worst, which
she, with an oath, assured me was her grandame's, together
with a kiss, as I placed it on her fat, stubby finger, I
said, " Don't grieve, my young frow; for this is a
marriage contract in the Arab country, and you 're my
wife. When we meet again I'll consummate the rite, and,
till then, take care of your dower."

I then shoved off to the grab, putting the plunder on
board her, as we had little stowage on board the schooner.
I told Louis of the affair with his countrywoman, and
added : iC She is certainly your frow, by the description
you have given me of her, in search of you ; — the iden-
tical woman, depend upon it."

Louis looked grave, but presently cheered up, and said,
— - cc My wife has no jewels, nor any rings on her fingers ;
she gave her wedding-ring for a bottle of skiedam, the
first time I refused her a dollar to buy one.

A YOUNGER SON. 26'9

We fell in with a fleet of country vessels from Ceylon
and Pondicherry, convoyed by a Company's brig of war.
De Ruyter telegraphed me to bring to, and examine the
vessels, while he gave chase to the Company's cruiser. I
soon came up with the country craft; they were of all
sorts, shapes, and rigs, — snows, grabs, padamas, The
Company's vessels, discovering us to be enemies, made sail,
and left them to shift for themselves. As soon as I was
near enough to get a gun to bear, I fired a shot amongst
them, when they separated like a flight of wild ducks, driv-
ing away in the direction of every point of the compass ;
while I pursued them as the beneta does the flying fish,
and kept them as well together, by running round them,
as a huntsman, or rather a whipper-in, controls a pack of
hounds. Some few, indeed, gave me the slip ; but I got
the main body together. We boarded them successively,
with little for our pains ; they were principally loaded with
bumbalow, paddy, beetle-nut, ghee, pepper, arrack, and
salt. However, there was a sprinkling of silks, muslins^
and a few shawls ; and, with infinite industry, I contrived
to realise a few bags of gold mores, and rupees.

De Ruyter was now a long way to leeward ; and by
occasional reports of cannon, 1 knew she was keeping up
a running fire on the brig, which seemed to be a remark-
ably fast sailer. Leaving the small craft, I bore away,
crowding every inch of canvass, to rejoin the grab. In
the direction they were running there was a group of three
rocks raising their crests high out of the water. There was
a passage between them, and the Company's brig seemed
making for them. Her object I could not guess at; but
when she neared them, being much cut up in her rigging,
and finding she had no chance of escape, she hauled her
wind, and, after shortening sail, hove to, and commenced
an engagement with De Ruyter. I was all on fire to be
in it. As I approached, a signal from De Ruyter directed
me to run to leeward of the rocks, to prevent the possibility
of her escape ; and, judging from appearances, the grab
had already so much the advantage of her opponent, that I
could only have diminished my friend's glory, without

ADVENTURES OF

gaining any myself. But, before I could obey the signal,
the brig had drifted on the rocks, designedly to destroy her,
and then struck her flag.

Instantly, in conjunction with the grab, we got all our
boats out, boarded her, and endeavoured to tow her off.
She was a fine vessel, armed with sixteen eighteen-pound
carronades, and had eighty or ninety men and officers on
board. She had not been engaged more than ten or fifteen
minutes; yet her hull, as well as rigging, was a good
deal cut up. She had only seven or eight men wounded,
and one killed ; the grab had two or three wounded, and
one killed by an accident. As he was in the chains,
ramming down a cartridge, (the gun not having been
sponged, and the vent stopped,) it exploded as the man was
standing before it. The old Rais told me, in his unmoved
way, " I looked out of the port-hole, and ordered the man,
who was loading the gun, to take care not to carry away
the dead eyes of the standing rigging ; — for he was too hot
and hasty. The gun going off prevented his replying, I
looked again; the man was no longer there; but a piece of
his red cap, or red head, was floating on the water, I
never saw any thing more of him."

" It was Dan Murphy, — poor fellow I"

<e Yes," replied the Rais ; (i he was always in a hurry,
never attending to orders. And look at the dead eyes,
~ he has carried them away with his foolish head."

We secured the Europeans in the prize, took some of
her stores and arms, put on board our sick men, with
all the plunder we had accumulated, and draughted twenty
men, two quarter-masters, a prize-agent, and master.
After repairing her during that night and the ensuing day,
(for we hove her off the rocks, without much damage, it
being calm weather,) we sent her to the Isle of France.
Her Lascars and native sailors, in a few days after, we
shipped in a country vessel, giving them their liberty; with
the exception of eight or ten, who entered with De Ruyter.
More would have followed their example, had we wanted
them.

A YOUNGER SON. 271

CHAPTER XXVII.

But feast to-night ! —to-morrow we depart;
Strike up the dance, the cava bowl rill high,
Drain every drop ! — to-morrow we may die. Byron.

De Ruyter determined on running through the straits of
Sunda, while I was to run through the straits of Molacca,
and procure intelligence of the English ships, conse-
quently we separated. We were to meet, after a certain
date, at an island near the great Island of Borneo. De
Ruyter gave me full instructions, from which he made
me promise not to deviate.

He then took an affectionate leave of Aston, pressed on
him presents of curious arms, in which Aston was an
amateur, and both of them struggled, by indifferent words/
to hide their emotions. De Ruyter then laid his last
solemn injunctions on me, kissed Zela's brow, shook hands,
and returned on board the grab.

We made sail, steering different courses. As soon as I
was sufficiently near the entrance of the straits, I stood over
on the Malay coast, which is very high and bold. Getting
into a large bay, formed by a bite of land, I anchored in
a secure berth, between a small island and the main.
There I opened a communication with the natives, and
with some difficulty procured a large and very fast pulling
proa; which I thought was the safest way of taking
Aston to Pulo-penang, lying at the entrance of the straits,
and in the possession of the English. Pulling along the
Malay shore, in one of their own fashioned canoes, I should
neither be remarked by the natives, nor suspected, if seen,
by the English. Thus I might land on any part of the
island I pleased.

Pulo-penang was purchased by the English East-India
Company from the Malays on the opposite coast, and is
now called Prince of Wales's Island. It is small, but
exceedingly fertile, and very beautiful. It runs parallel

2?2 ADVENTURES OF

with the Malay coast, which is very high ; and the inter-
mediate channel forms a magnificent harbour.

Determined to accompany Aston, I manned the proa
with six Arabs and two Malays (their arms secreted),
with three days provisions and water. Aston and I em-
barked; he in a white jacket and trousers, I in an Arab
sailor's dress. We shoved off from the schooner, left in
charge of the first mate, an American, who had been a
second mate on board of her when she was taken. He had
recovered from his fever, and De Ruyter had recom-
mended him to me fervently. He was an active, intel-
ligent fellow ; a thorough sailor, born and bred at New
York. His name was Strong, a short, thick-set man,
powerful as a Suffolk horse. One of my own country,
who had been captain of the forecastle in Aston's frigate,
was my second mate. He had all the characteristics of a
man of war's man, taciturn, obedient, brave, and hardy.
He had also a sailor's predilection for grog. The captain
of the hold, his messmate, having bulled an empty rum
cask, that is, immediately after the spirit is started, put
in a gallon of water, there to remain, with an occasional
roll, for twenty -four hours, when it turns out good stiff
grog, our forecastle captain swilled too freely of this wash,
and failed in his respect to a superior officer. The boat-
swain, jealous of this man's better seamanship, and hating
the deference that was paid him, was the cause of the
man's being flogged. This disgrace preyed on his mind,
and was the motive for gladly entering with me. Besides,
as he argued, he had been twenty years serving the king
in the West and East Indies, with nothing but two days'
liberty on shore, the yellow fever, many wounds, one
drunken bout while on duty, and a flogging.

To return to my story, after shoving off in the proa.
It was calm, with a sun that seared to the bone. We
kept along the Malay shore ; and in the evening were off
the Malay town of Prya, defended by a fort. Having
got into conversation with some Malays in a fishing-boat,
at night we crossed over in company with them to Penang
river, lying to the southward of George Town, on the
Prince of Wales's Island. As it was a run of less than

A YOUNGER SON. 273

two miles, Aston and I recreated ourselves with swallowing
the delicious oysters, so celebrated on this coast. On
attempting the river, we found our proa was too large to
cross the bank ; so he and I landed. I directed the proa
to go into the harbour, with some fishing-canoes, taking
fish to town in the morning.

We slept in a fisherman's hut. Just before daylight,
we started for the town ; and crossed several streams,
flowing from the mountains into the river. The hills
were covered with magnificent timber, and our path was
fragrant with the odour of flowers and spices ; which
seemed ten times more exquisite to us, just landed from a
small and crowded vessel, any thing but fragrant. Near
the town, in the margin of the sea, was a wide extent of
plain, of a light sandy -looking soil, as thick with pine-
apples as the most prolific soil in England could be with
turnips. Like boys, always hungry, we walked along,
scooping their hearts out with our knives ; and daintily
plucked and cast away twenty, ere we were satisfied with
the flavour of one.

We entered the town unquestioned, and went to a
recently established hotel. Aston there rigged himself,
waited on the president, and told as much of his story,
as we had previously agreed on was necessary for him to
know, or for us to divulge. He said he had been landed
from an American vessel, lower down the coast, and
brought to the town by a Malayan proa.

The president, a military man, was very kind ; he re-
quested him to take up his quarters in his house, till some
man-of-war or English ship should come into port. Aston
thought it prudent to comply ; merely requesting permis-
sion to stay at the hotel for a day or two, till his apparel
and other necessaries should be furnished.

He then returned to me ; and as I was to go back to
my proa that night, we were resolved to make a day of
it before hand, which we forthwith commenced by a tiffin,
and an order for a sumptuous dinner.

Aston took this opportunity of again counselling me to
return to the navy, and pointed out the consequences of

T

274 ADVENTURES OF

my serving under an enemy's flag, urging me, at all events,
to remain at the Isle of France, neutral, and not act
offensively against my own countrymen.

" When I have realised a competency," I said, <e it
was always my intention, following our old captain's
example, to become agriculturist : but I must first have
money, for, you know, I am getting into years, have a
wife, and shall have a family. Oh, I must be provident,
and provide for them ! Now, if I were a single man,
like you, Aston, young and thoughtless, it would be an-
other thing."

" Get out, you mad-headed boy. Why, the united
ages of yourself and family would scarcely amount to the
proper age of manhood — thirty ! "

<( Thirty ! Whew ! A man is then old, decrepit,
grisled like a worn out mastiff!"

This was while we were playing at billiards. Weary of
the game, I sauntered forth, surveyed the port, and set
down in my memory every vessel lying there. I marked,
too, my proa, lying astern of an Arab vessel, a little to the
westward of the town, near a landing-place which led to a
slip where a large country vessel had been built. Not
thinking it prudent to attract notice, I returned to the
tavern. We dined ; and what with sangaree before din-
ner, craftily qualified with Madeira and claret, well bran-
died, after dinner, I cannot affirm I was as sober as a
parson should be, or as silent as a quaker : yet I was not
drunk ; and to avoid being so, I proposed we should sally
out for a " lark.'*

When in the open air, I yawred about a little wildly,
and was taken aback now and then, by keeping too much
in the wind's eye ; but I soon became steady. We wan-
dered for some time through crooked streets, and among
sun -burnt mud-huts, till we fell in with a place called
Bamboo Square. It was an open space, with an irregular
range of shops, sheltered all round from the sun by bam-
boos and mats. A beating of drums and tinkling of in-
struments led us on to a row of huts exclusively occupied
by Nach girls. Aston was fond of music, and an ad-

A YOUNGER SON. 2 75

mirer of dancing- girls, whom I, as all married men should
do, had foresworn. Besides, the smell of rancid oil, ghee,
and garlic was not to my taste. I therefore left him, and
strolled on to a range of shops called the Jewellers*
Bazaar.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

So I drew
My knife, and with one impulse, suddenly
All unaware, three of their number slew,
And grasp'd a fourth by the throat. Shelley.

It was thronged with people, and illuminated with co-
loured-paper lamps. I stood before one of these shed-
built shops : it was the best, and kept by a parsee. He
was showing a woman, who was veiled from her feet to
her face, some ear and nose rings, nearly the circum-
ference of a boy's hoop, and descanting on their neatness
and elegance. When they had agreed on the price, she
removed part of her head-drapery, and exhibited her nos-
tril and part of her ear : the latter was almost as big and
flat as a plate, and hung down like a sow's. The jeweller,
placing his thumb to keep the slit in it open, suspended
the huge ring, which looked like a chandelier. She had
no occasion for a mirror, for, turning her head a little to-
wards her shoulder, she pulled the lap of her ear forwards,
and grinned with delight, showing a double row of deeply
orange-dyed teeth, more numerous than a garden rake's,
and as sharp-pointed. The jeweller, struck with these
beauties, exclaimed, ce What an angel ! "

She then asked him for a betel box. He produced four
or five of gold, declaring that no baser metal ought to
touch her lovely hand. They were handsomely made;
and as it had just before crossed my mind that I should
present some token of friendship to Aston, who had given
t 2

276

ADVENTURES OF

me his watch in the morning, I took hold of two of the
boxes. I then weighed them in my hand, without attend-
ing to the price he named, for I hated bargaining and
haggling, put the boxes into the folds of my shawl round
my loins, and gave him, without counting, what I consi-
dered to be the value in gold mores. He counted them,
and seeing me so free with my gold, became urgent for
more. He declared I had only paid for one. To this I
answered, " That's a lie \" — rolled up a leaf with chinam,
deposited it in my mouth, and was going away. The
jeweller called me a robber, and stretched out his hand to
detain me. He got hold of the end of my turban, which
was hanging down, and pulled it off. I turned round,
and giving him a blow on the head, he fell among his glass
jewel-boxes. A parsee never forgives a blow — who
does ? Pie stabbed at me with a knife, or weapon of
some sort, the moment he recovered his feet : but he was
in his shop, and I out of it, so that by stepping back I
avoided his weapon ; and my blood now rising, more at
what I thought the fellow's audacity than at his endeavour
to stab me, I seized on a jewel-box, and dashed it at his
head.

Several persons, both in and out of the shop, inter-
fered in the business, and sided with the parsee. The
row spread through the bazaar. The jeweller, with his
head and face bleeding, and frenzied with passion, called
me thief, robber, and vociferated to those about me (for the
clamour had now drawn all idlers to us) to seize me, to
take me to prison, or to kill me, if I resisted. As the
crowd increased, many pressed about me ; and the infu-
riated jeweller, grown desperate, made another effort to lay
hold -of me.

Danger perfectly restored my senses ; and I was enabled
to rally that presence of mind with which I was gifted.
I drew from my sash a pistol and creese, the two best
weapons for close quarters ; but not till I had seen
several men close to me draw their arms. Still I re-
frained from using mine ; for, in cases of this sort, men
will bluster, draw, and threaten, but yet hesitate to strike

A YOUNGER SON. 277

an armed and resolute man, ready to oppose them ; but
the instant a blow is struck, all strike, when the weaker
party must fall, unless by the intervention of some unfore-
seen event, some lucky chance. In this momentary pause,
on which hung my fate, as by a hair, my eye glanced
round, and I saw the impossibility of escape in the front,
which was crowded. To be killed on the spot was pre-
ferable to being detained and made a prisoner. I seized
the only outlet of escape, by retreating into the den of my
enemy, the jeweller — not to solicit his mercy. My move-
ments were so rapid, that those in the shop could not
oppose me ; I stabbed one, struck the jeweller down, and
forced away, suddenly exerting my utmost strength, the
two upright bamboos, which supported his tent-like shed.
Down the roof fell between me and the people, and I
escaped into a narrow and obscure passage at the back of
the bazaar.

The deep guttural curses of the Malays, and the par-
see's loud threats of vengeance, reached my ear. It was
better to retreat than brave the fury of incensed numbers ;
not forgetting who I was, and the consequences of being
discovered. Had I been wise, I should have immediately
retreated to the outside of the port, where my proa lay,
and embarked ; but the desire of seeing and taking leave
of Aston withheld me. I therefore cautiously threaded
the crooked and dingy passage, which led from the bazaar,
surprised at not being pursued. Nevertheless I hurried
on ; and to avoid being recognised, made alterations in my
dress. There was much difficulty, through a labyrinth of
dark lanes, in finding the tavern, which was near the port.

I entered and reached my room unnoticed ; but was
annoyed at Aston's not having returned. Thinking it
possible he might be concerned in the fray, I determined
on changing my dress and seeing him. I put on a white
jacket and trousers belonging to him, and could not for-
bear smiling, as I went out of the house, at the man who
had attended us at dinner, when I saw him puzzled to
conjecture who I was. But that triumphant smile, I had
afterwards reason to believe, betrayed me.

I proceeded directly to the bazaar. There I saw Aston's
t 3

278 ADVENTURES OF

tall figure, a head and shoulders above the crowds which
which was still before the jeweller's door, — or rather, on
the threshold, for it was all door now, an empty space.
But I observed the crowd did not consist of the same
persons, but of sepoys and police officers. Aston and one
of the officers seemed listening to an account of the affair.
The jeweller, haggard and ghastly, stood before them,
narrating his injuries. Several of his family and friends
were about him. He pointed to the place where his shop
had stood, now a gap in the bazaar, stamped on the roof,
as low as the foundation, and, as he finished his vehement
discourse, tore the turban from his head, and rent his
robes to fragments. And then, without heeding those who
addressed him, he disappeared.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Cry a reward to him who shall first bring

News of that vanished Arabian. Keats' MS.

To avoid observation, and not wishing to be questioned, I
went back to the tavern. Aston soon joined me, and,
shaking my hand, said, " I am glad to find you here.
There has been a serious row in the bazaar, and I feared
you might have been concerned in it."

ei What was it ?" I inquired*.

" I was drawn to the spot, by seeing the people run
that way. There was a shop, or shed, belonging to a
goldsmith, pulled down, when the mob began to plunder
it, while himself and a few others attempted to defend his
property. But all the scoundrels from the port were there,
and I don't think they have left the poor fellow a gold
more. It was too late when I arrived there, nor had I
my sword with me ; but I did what I could. I knocked
down some of the fellows, and procured the sepoy guard
from the gates."

" But how did it originate ? "

A YOUNGER SON. 2 79

" With an Arab ; and, as far as I can understand, it is
no unfrequent occurrence here, though seldom done so
openly. The bazaar was full of people, and while the
jeweller was showing some valuable trinkets to a woman,
who is supposed to be an accomplice, an Arab came, seized
every thing he could lay his hands on, stabbed one of the
men in the shop, knocked the jeweller down, and, assisted
by others on the outside, rushed through the shop, which
was then torn down, and a set of miscreants commenced
plundering.' '

" Do they suspect any one in particular ? "

ec I don't know : they have some of the thieves in cus-
tody."

Ci Come, light your sharoot, and I '11 tell you all
about it."

His surprise was great at hearing I was the person de-
nominated the Arab robber ; and, in much grief, he cen-
sured my folly and rashness. " Besides," he added, ie the
jeweller said he could recognise the man who first attacked
him amidst a thousand; and, casting from him the few
things he had saved, swore by his religion he would fast
till he was revenged."

te If he keeps his word," I answered, ci his rhamadan
may last for ever ; for I shall go to sea with, the lafod-
wind."

But, as the devil willed it, the weather was so bad 1
could not embark that night. I had no reason, however,
to imagine that I was, or could be, suspected; especially in
a town where brawls were common events, and where a
man, dead or missing, was of little account, amidst a po-
pulation of armed and blood-thirsty Malays (who, of all
eastern nations, and all human beings except kings, hold
human life in least respect,) and Arabs, with whom, if
precedents and time can make a thing lawful, killing is no
murder, and robbery no crime, for they are coeval with
their race. Besides, the parsee's brother was not dead.

Aston went early in the morning to the president ; and

I went out, taking the precaution to wear an arrican cap

instead of a turban, and loitered down to the port to glean

information. Afterwards I visited the shops to purchase

t 4

280 ADVENTURES OF

some trifling things I wanted ; besides which, I had several
important commissions to execute for De Ruyter, in pro-
curing information, and forwarding letters to the interior
of Hindostan. This I did through an agent of the French
government, which had spies, I believe, in every port in
India. Once or twice during the forenoon I thought I
was watched, and evaded my imagined pursuer ; and, on
more than one occasion, the waiter at the hotel surprised
me by some observations he made on the affair of the pre-
ceding night ; which struck me the more, because another
servant had told us this same jeweller was in the habit of
bringing his trinkets to the hotel when there were strangers
there.

We passed this day in the same way as the preceding
one ; not that I was altogether quite at ease in being de-
layed. The affair of the jeweller troubled me little, com-
pared to the hazard of personal discovery. Some of the
vessels I had plundered at sea might be in this port ; and
notwithstanding the difference in my dress, some person or
other might recollect me. My mind then reverted to the
schooner ; for however secure she might be in her present
berth for a day or two, some accident might discover her ;
and she was only in comparative safety when in motion,
with a good offing. Then there was a magnet, stronger
than all these prudential considerations to hasten my depart-
ure,— my own little turtle dove, Zela, who, I knew, would
outwatch the stars, and find no rest while I was absent.
This determined me to embark that night, in despite of
wind and weather, which was still cloudy and unsettled ;
and, what is often the case in these latitudes, the day-breeze
went down with the sun.

I pass over my parting with Aston ; indeed, to avoid
some portion of the pain, I took advantage of his absence,
and wrote him a short adieu, leaving the fifty or sixty gold
mores I had about me in the sleeve of his jacket, so that he
could not fail to find them.

I made no mention of my departure to any one in the
house. As to baggage, it consisted of nothing but my
abbah, which the occasional showers made no burden.
Modern frippery of combs, razors, brushes, and linen,

A YOUNGER SON. 281

which prevents a man from sleeping out of his own house
without the incumbrance of the best part of a haberdasher's
shop, I never dreamed of. My teeth were as strong and
white as a hound's without the aid of hog's bristles. My
head was not, as before, shaved, but thickly sprouting like
a bramble bush, and was left to its natural growth with as
little care and cultivation as is bestowed on that most fondly
remembered fruit-tree. I say so, because, in common with
all young urchins, I recollect the time when, spurned like
a dog from the vicinity of every other fruit-tree, I solaced
myself under the friendly bramble, and its beloved com-
panion, the beautiful hazel. Sacred haunts ! unprotected
by churlish guardians, and where, by the by, we eat without
having planted. This must be the reason why starving
poets call nature and mother earth bountiful, — there can
be no other ; for only be detected in extracting a turnip,
and hear what a magistrate will say, particularly if he is
clerical. You will then find mother earth the worst of step-
mothers, and have enough of her in the colonies.

CHAPTER XXX.

The waning moon,
Anu like a dying lady, lean and pale,
Who totters forth, wrapt in a gauzy veil,
Out of her chamber, led by the insane
And feeble wanderings of her fading brain. Shelley.

He dies ! 'Tis well she do not advertise

The caitiff of the cold steel at his back. Keats' MS.

Thus unincumbered, a little before midnight, and avoiding
the most populous parts of the town, I walked as fast as
possible ; but the night, and the narrow, dirty lanes, con-
siderably impeded my progress. At length I reached the
open space near the now quiet port, in my way to the out-
side of the town, where was a rude sort of half-finished
dock-yard, off one of the slips of which lay my proa. The
weather was favourable ; what wind there was, I observed.

282 ADVENTURES OF

by the occasional gusts, was not stationary, but shifting
about in all quarters. Dark and white masses of clouds
seemed jostling together ; and, every now and then, as they
met in contention over the moon, the world was left in
almost total darkness. Men from the shore hallooing their
vessels to send boats, and the " All's well \" of the sepoy
sentinels, were the only voices I heard. When out of the
town, my heart became lighter, and my stride longer, as I
beheld the free expanse of sea on my right, and the moun-
tains before me ; either of them would have been a refuge,
had I been pursued; however, I now considered myself
out of danger. I came on a little line of huts, and a wooden
fence, which I had not observed before. A sentinel, stand-
ing under the lee of a hut, stepped forward, as I was
passing, and said, cc Who goes there ? — - stop !*'

How near the guard was I knew not ; therefore, to pre-
vent his giving an alarm which he would have done had I
not stopped, I obeyed, and, to preserve my Indian charac-
ter, answered in Hindostanee, iC A friend."

He then questioned me, in the usual manner, about
where I was going, and upon what business. On my re-
plying, he said, " You can't pass here without an order."

"I know that/' I answered; " I have one;" — I
fumbled in my dress for a letter or paper. I took one out,
and, with great appearance of simplicity, advanced towards
him, and said, (e Here, sir, it is ! "

He bade me keep off, and was bringing his musket
down, when I sprang in upon him, griped him by the
throat, which prevented his giving the alarm, and laid him
on his back in an instant. His musket fell from his hands ;
and this little irascible Bombay soldier struggled hard to
loosen my hold, and lay hands on me ; but he had no more
chance than a cat with a mastiff. I held him till he was
almost strangled ; then, the moon being again hidden by
the clouds, I cast his bayonet one way, his musket another,
let him go, arose, and bolted off in the direction I had
come, as if returning to the town. But I took the contrary
direction, and, giving the arsenal a wide berth, went
through some Indian corn-fields. When at a sufficient
distance, I again slanted down towards the sea. More than

A YOUNGER SON. 283

once, it seemed, I was followed. I stopped, and turned
round. As I regained the beaten track, I fancied I saw a
figure skulking along, his shadow reflected on a wall. I
drew my creese, and, turning back, sought vainly for the
object. The changing and uncertain light made my efforts
fruitless ; I concluded it was a shadow created by my ex-
cited imagination, and wrent on.

As the moon again shone forth, I saw, between me and
the sea, a building close on the beach, in a bite of the bay,
which I knew to be a public slaughter-house. A little
farther on was an enclosed slip, in which a vessel had been
built or repaired. Half a mile onward, off at sea, lay my
proa expecting me.

I stopped on a little mound of sand, looking to seaward,
if I could make out the boat. One of the walls of the
slaughter-house was by the side of this, and I leaned on it.
At this moment, with a gleam of moonlight behind me, my
shadow was reflected slantingly on the white ground, when
a huge arm uplifting a weapon, large (such it appeared in
shadow) as a spear, was in the act of stabbing. I turned,
and thrust my left hand, in which my cloak was gathered,
to ward off the blow, for it was a man with a creese in the
very act of despatching me. The blow pierced through
many folds of the strong camel's hair, but the point of the
weapon was turned, and glanced on my loins. I gave a
shout, started back, presented a small pistol Aston had
given me, and snapped it in the fellow's face. The Bir-
mingham toy was not made for use; it missed fire; I cursed
its manufacturer, threw it away, and drew my creese, in
the use of which, thanks to the Rais, I was perfect, i
having the upper ground, the assassin could not repeat his
blow. He believed the first had wounded me; and, know-
ing his weapon to be poisoned, and if the skin was but
scratched, it was enough, he endeavoured to escape.

Instantly I was at his heels. He was swift of foot, and
so was I. By the turnings and twistings he made, he
seemed acquainted with the localities of the ground, over
which I repeatedly stumbled. Yet I pressed him so hard,
calling out, " Stop — or I'll fire !" (though I had no fire-
arms,) that he suddenly turned through a gap in a wall, a

284 ADVENTURES OF

loose stone of which I caught up and hurled at him.
Following close upon him I found, by the spars and timber
which impeded me, that I was in the temporary dock. It
had, I remembered, a high fence on each side ; for I had
been down there twice to speak with my men. The deep
slip, or channel, which had been cut to float a vessel in,
now almost free from water, lay in front. I therefore
thought him embayed here. However, the man went
straight on, then turned, and hesitated an instant. I ima-
gined he was about to turn round, and again attack me.
The night had become a little lighter, but I could distin-
guish no features in his dusky face, except the eyes glaring
on me. As I was now rushing on him, he eluded my grasp
by stepping aside, for he was on the very verge of the deep
chasm, and walking, as it at that moment appeared, in the
air ; whence he turned his head towards me, and exclaimed,
— u Robber and murderer, you dare come no farther ! "

The moon, again unveiled, explained the mystery. The
shaft of an unbarked tree, the larger part towards the side
on which I stood, lay horizontally across the chasm ; and
the man, steadying himself, and clinging with his bare feet,
was cautiously crossing on it.

He paused to defy and execrate me; and I, hesitating
what to do, said, — " Cowardly slave ! who are you ? —
and why have you attacked me?"

With his ghastly face towards me, he replied, " I am
the jeweller you robbed, the brother of him you stabbed !
But I am revenged!"

i( You lie — you are not ! "

" Fool !" said he, holding up a creese, " if this did not
go deep, the poison on it will 1 "

" Will it ? " I cried, and, without more hesitation, having
shaken off my shoes, I sprang along the spar. He jumped
on it, perhaps to increase the vibration, or to cross it, or to
turn — I know not. My action was so rapid that, quick
as lightning runs along an iron rod, I closed with him.
He was surprised, if not panicstruck. The impetus with
which we met destroyed our equilibrium, and we fell to-
gether, neither making the vain effort of using the dagger.
The jeweller, who was on a smaller and more rounded por~

A YOUNGER SON. 28 5

tion of the spar, and, I believe, in the act of turning, made
a desperate effort, as he fell, to catch hold of me, when we
should have been precipitated together in the dark gulf.
But it was not so decreed ; for he only clutched my dress,
which rent asunder, and I heard him fall heavily beneath.

I had fallen on my face, and clung round the spar with
my legs and one arm, for in the fall I seemed to have dis-
located the other. My body was light, and my limbs long
and sinewy. I contrived, though I hardly know how, to
thus support and save myself ; but I remember what toil
and peril I had in crawling along, hand and foot, on this
dangerous bridge, which now, to my mind, was as difficult
to cross as the bridge which Mahomet calls al Sir at, finer
than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword, with the
gulf of hell gaping below.

It was strange that, when the jeweller caught at me, and
rent my vests, the gold boxes, the source of all this mischief,
dropped from my bosom, (for, after what had occurred, I
did not think it right to give them to Aston,) and I saw
them glittering, as I imagined, on the man's head.

CHAPTER XXXI.

A bitter death, a suffocating death,

A muffled death, ensnared in horrid silence,

Suck'd to my grave amid a dreary calm! Keats' MS.

On regaining the brink of the chasm, breathless and al-
most exhausted, suffering from a contusion on my head
and wrist, I sat down on the margin of that deep and
dismal gulf, which gaped like a charnel- vault beneath me,
and looked the more deep and terrific under the clear
moonlight. Then the noise from below, which the parsee
made, struggling for life ; for at the bottom of the canal
was a little stagnant water, dammed up with sand from
the sea, and sludge washed down by the torrents, with all
the accumulated filth from the slaughter-house — being a

286 ADVENTURES OF

consistency in which no man could long float, or imme-
diately sink ; but every struggle made it worse. The
man had sunk deep the first plunge, and his hard efforts
to rise were apparent from the speechless agony with
which he toiled, and the quick and stifling noise he made,
as if half suffocated by the slimy composition. He panted,
gasped, and floundered on the surface. I could perceive
no more than an indistinct mass thus writhing and groan-
ing in torture. It was a horrible sight, and, though not
very nervous, my flesh quivered, and my whole frame
shook as in sympathy with his sufferings.

I gazed round in the vain endeavour of seeking some-
thing to aid me in rescuing him ; but though the moon
shone brightly, it only showed me the hopelessness of the
man's situation. I tried to keep my eyes off, but, as if
fascinated, I could not. I had almost determined to give
the alarm, by calling for assistance (as I supposed a sen-
tinel could not be very far), regardless of consequences to
myself.

The struggle now became feeble, and the noise indis-
tinct, rattling, and hoarse. I looked, and the dark mass
was slowly sinking beneath the slimy surface ; and, as he
sunk for ever, I thought I saw an arm still holding its
serpentine weapon, which seemed (as it might have been
from his convulsive death) quivering while it gradually
sunk — shaking, as it were, still in defiance !

I remembered he had told me it was poisoned, and his
last action reminded me of a venomous serpent I had killed
the day before, which, whilst expiring with its emerald-
green eye sparkling, and inflated hood, yet shot forth
its forked tongue, as if in revengeful rage not to be
subdued.

My eyes were riveted on the spot where the man had
disappeared. The bubbling and disturbed surface was
subsiding into smoothness, when I was suddenly so
startled as nearly to lose my balance and fall down
headlong, at hearing a voice at my ear call out — " All's
well ! "

It was the voice of a distant sentinel, borne on the wind
while my head was on the ground near the fatal spar which

A YOUNGER SOX. 28J

crossed the chasm, and which acted as a conductor. This,
and the extreme stillness of the night, made the voice
seem close to me, and certainly alarmed me more than I
had ever been alarmed.

I sprang on my feet, and looked round fearfully ; but
all was again still. Daylight was approaching, and every
moment precious. I cast a last look at the spot where
the man had sunk, and a pang of remorse came over me
as I recalled the occurrences of the two last days, in which
I had been the cause of the destruction of this man's pro-
perty, perhaps of his brother's life, and then of himself.
What havoc and sorrow had I caused in his family ; what
curses must fall on my head ! — What demon of mischief
urged me on ? His death-cries long haunted me.

It appeared to me, on after-reflection, that the waiter,
or some other person in the tavern, had suspected me as
concerned in the jeweller's affair — that he had acquainted
him with his suspicions — that, during my morning walk,
the jeweller had seen and recognised me — that he had
afterwards followed and kept sight of me down to the place
where my boat lay.

Had he given notice to the authorities, and charged me
with being the principal in the attack on his shop, he per-
haps was aware of, or had experienced the tardy and cor-
rupt proceedings of courts, and the little justice got by law :
besides, there are wrongs which cannot be righted by law,
and for which men seek redress in vengeance. Feelings
of this sort must have determined him on attempting to
kill me. If he had indeed known who I really was, his
revenge would have been effectually executed by simply
informing against me ; but of this he had no suspicion.

I hastened down to the beach, as if pursued ; and, de-
scrying the proa, I was about to hail her, when I called to
mind the vicinity of the sentinel, My left wrist was
strained or dislocated — the hot blood was trickling down
my face, and I was suffused with a clammy heat. I
looked anxiously along the margin of the sea for a boat,
but could discover none that would serve my turn.
Every instant of delay augmented the hazard of detec-
tion : I therefore secured the few things which would be

288 ADVENTURES OP

destroyed by water, in my cap, and walked into the sea,
which was smooth, with a breeze from the land. I swam
as fast as I could, having the use of but one paddle.
There was no difficulty in this to one like me, who could
swim nearly as well as walk, and whose daily pastime,
when at Madras, had been in buffeting through the tre-
mendous surf in which no European boat can live. But the
danger I ran was from sharks and alligators, which were
multitudinous about this island, the latter of which I knew
used to swarm round the outlet from the slaughter house,
attracted by the smell of offal. Perhaps they were then
banqueting on the wretched jeweller.

CHAPTER XXXII.

As past the pebbly beach the boat did flee

On sidelong wing, into a silent cove

Where ebon pines a shade under the starlight wove. Shellet.

With shatter'd boat, oar snapt, and canvass rent,

I slowly sail, scarce knowing my intent. Keats.

Happily I got on board the proa; and, having silently
weighed our grapnel, we all lay down, and let the boat
drift out in the channel, till the fishing canoes ran out,
when we paddled amongst them, hoisted our main-sail, and
ran over to the Malabar shore : there being little wind
during the day, we paddled along the shore ; and, as the
clouds towards evening again threatened a squally night, we
went into a little open cove, not having any visage of being
inhabited.

There we beached our boat, and prepared to sup and
sleep under the shelter of some pine trees, growing close
to the sea. Meanwhile two Malays speared fish from the
rocks, and others lighted a fire against a huge teak-tree,
which, as I afterwards learnt, had crept into the forest,
and continued burning for seven or eight months. Wea-
ried and worn out, after having placed two men as outposts

A YOUNGER SON. 2$9

some distance from us, and appointed a strict watch to be
kept, I selected a soft stone as a pillow for my head, and
with my feet to the fire, wrapped in the boat's sail, I
slept so soundly that neither the wind nor rain, which
came on in the night, awakened me.

An hour before daylight I was called. My limbs were
cold and stiff. Coffee and smoking, my never-failing
remedies in the morning, refreshed me. We launched
our boat, and, with a breeze still from the land, made
good way through the water, keeping well out to meet the
sea-breeze. After mid-day the weather became clear and
bright, and, about midnight, we ran along the north-east
side of the island, at which the schooner was moored.
We did not see her, so snug was her berth, until we
rounded an estuary. A man on the look-out on shore,
belonging to the schooner, descried us. As we approached,
I perceived Zela, with my pocket telescope, looking through
one of the ship's glasses.

Springing over the schooner's low gunwale, I lifted her
up by the waist, which had outgrown my span. I pressed
her to my bosom in rapture, carried her down the hatchway,
and placed her on the cabin table. Then, turning to my
mate, I said, " Strong, have you seen any strangers in the
offing?"

" Only country craft, sir/'

iC No matter. Get under weigh, and let us make a
stretch to the eastward."

I should have mentioned that I had previously examined
the place which I thought the jeweller's creese had grazed,
but could discover no wound. The loose and thick folds
of my camel-haired abbah and the shawls round my
waist had saved me. My eyes were both blackened by the
blow on my brow, and my left wrist was swollen and
painful.

, My abbah I had picked up, so there was not the
minutest clue by which the jeweller's friends could
trace him or me. Whether the sentinel, with whom I had
the scuffle, gave an alarm, or made a report, I know
not. Probably, as he had committed a fault in permitting

290 ADVENTURES OF

me to come near him without giving an alarm, he was
silent.

Zela's paramana (nurse), old Kamalia, doctored my
wounds ; and Zela chafed my temples, and rubbed my
stiffened limbs with cajeput oil and camphor. Whether it
was this hot oil, or the hand acting in animal magnetism,
or roast fowls and claret, or my callian and coffee, or
guava jelly and sweeter lips to kiss, that restored me,
is a mystery. But certain it is that these external and
internal applications restored my body's health. My arm
I was obliged to keep some time in a sling ; and I hardly
think it ever regained its former strength.

De Ruyter having told me he should go through the
straits of Sunda, and touch at Java, I proceeded to
Borneo. I passed the straits of Drion ; but, anxious to
get through these, I did not run out of my way to board
any of the country vessels, which I occasionally fell in
with. The first vessel I boarded was some time after this,
at the dawn of day. She was a singularly constructed and
rigged vessel, coming right down on us, apparently of
less than a hundred tons burden, with two masts, snow-
fashion ; her ropes were principally of a dark grass, her
sails of purple and white cotton, though some looked like
matting; her hull was high out of the water, bleached
to a whitish brown ; her bottom (for I could almost see
the kelston as she rolled heavily, more from want of
ballast, and the weight above board, than from any swell
of the sea,) was overgrown with barnacles, sea-weed,
and green slime. She yawned so widely about, owing
to bad steering, that I could scarcely keep clear of her.
I fired a musket for her to heave to, which she did in
so lubberly a manner, by heaving up in the wind, that
she was nearly dismasted. A strange antediluvian crew of
almost naked savages, the most uncouth and wild I had
ever seen, tattooed from head to foot, were groping about
her deck and rigging. A ragged piece of painted cloth was
hoisted by way of ensign. Who or what she was, whence
come, or whither going, it was impossible to guess. Her
upper works were so broken and gaping, that you could
see both into her and through her ; this, with her rent and

A YOUNGER SON. 291

ragged train, made her look as if she had been floating about
ever since the flood, and yet the wonder was how she was
kept afloat an hour.

They were attempting to hoist out an old and ornamented
canoe ; but, to save time, and anxious to examine her,
more from curiosity than hope of plunder, I lowered a
small dingy from our stern, and went to board her. On
nearing ber, I was more astonished at her wild appearance ;
and, having with great exertion climbed up her projecting
bamboo outworks, I found the interior far surpassing the
exterior. Her upper deck was thatched over with coir,
held together with twined grass cordage. The savage
crew had palmetta-leaf coverings on their heads, and Adam-
ite inexpressibles. A very tall, thin, and bony man came
forward to receive me. He was distinguished from the
savage group, that crowded around, by his comparative
fairness and fierceness, besides having more covering to his
person. His features were prominent, his complexion a
reddish brown, his hair somewhat darker ; and he would
have been strikingly handsome in figure and bearing, were
it not for the extraordinary and grotesque manner in which
he was tattooed on his face, arms, and breast, which were
bare. The figure of a hideous serpent was wreathed around
his throat, as if in the act of strangling him, with its head
and lancet-like tongue traced on the lower lip, as if, killing
two-fold, it was darting into his mouth. The bright green
eye and red tongue of the serpent were so cunningly tat-
tooed in colours, that, with the movement of the lower jaw,
they appeared in motion. Yet there was a placid expression
of the eye and brow which did not correspond with his
wild attire. I had no time to examine farther, for this
captain, or chieftain, came forward in a most courteous
and affable manner, and with a strange accent, but in toler-
able English said, — " You are English, sir?" (I had
shown English colours.)

ie And who are you, sir ? " I asked.

<e I, sir, am from the Island of Zaoo."

" What! — where is that ? I never heard of such an
island."

He informed me it was in the direction of the Sooloo
u 2

292 ADVENTURES OF

archipelago. " But it is strange/* I said, for his manner
struck me more than his appearance ; " are you of those
islands ? "

" Yes, sir."

u What! a native?"

" No, sir."

" Who are you then ? "

He paused for a moment, and then answered, — u An
Englishman, sir."

" Indeed ! How the devil then came you there, or
rather here, in this trim ? "

<l If you '11 walk down in the cabin, I '11 tell you, sir ;
I 'm afraid I 've little refreshment to offer you,"

Just as we were at the hatchway, I heard a woman's
cries below. He stopped, and said, " I had forgot, — we
cannot go down there."

" Is there any one ill ? "

" Yes, sir ; one of my wives is lying in, and, I believe,
before her time. Her labour is brought on by sea-sickness.
She is suffering dreadfully."

I sent for old Kamalia, telling him I had a wife on
board, and that her nurse, as I had understood, was learned
in these cases. Zela's paramana soon came on board ;
when, not to interrupt them, we sat apart on the deck, near
the stern, where the stranger thus began : — ' c It is so long
since I 've spoken my mother tongue, and the circumstances
I am going to relate happened so many years ago, that I
shall make a bungling story of it, and am afraid you '11 not
understand me."

" Well," said I, "it is almost calm, and we have time ;
so don't hurry yourself. And as you seem not to be very
well found in the grubber y line, I '11 send for something to
freshen your memory, while you recall old times.',

We were soon supplied from the schooner with beef,
ham, claret, and brandy. Englishmen hate each other till
they have eaten together. Eating made us friends, and
drinking opened our hearts. The only remnant of civilis-
ation, which still marked him a gentleman, was that he
smoked without intermission. When our callians were
lighted, he commenced his narrative ; but in so strange an

A YOUNGER SON. 293

idiom, and with so many breaks and stops, that, at first, I
had great difficulty in comprehending his meaning. For
the benefit of others, I take the liberty of amending his
phraseology.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Nelson was once Britannia's god of war,
And still should be so, but the tide is turn'd :

There 's no more to be said of Trafalgar,
'Tis with our hero quietly inurn'd. Byron.

€C Seven or eight years ago/' he said, " I left England in
an East India Company's ship, with convoy, bound to
Canton. The first officer, who had mercantile transactions
with my father, and was considerably his debtor for prior
investments, induced him to furnish him with a still
larger investment than usual, upon condition that I, who
was a clerk in my father's house, was to be shipped as a
midshipman, and to receive a certain portion of the profits,
on my father's account, arising from the investment. Pro-
perly instructed in this, I was to make the voyage, and, if
I liked it, to continue in the service ; if not, to return to
the counting-house. At the age of fifteen I need not say
how gladly I quitted debiting and crediting, invoice books,
journals, and ledgers, to go to a country of which I had
heard so much, and to rank among those aspirants, who
used to give themselves such airs, and appear so happy,
when they were on shore; — not knowing then that the
cause of their joy on shore was the being released from a
tyrannical subjection on board those worst of prison- ships,
East Indiamen. However, under the patronage of the first
officer, my initiation into the service might be supposed
favourable.

" But we had not long sailed from the Downs, when I ex-
perienced a visible alteration for the worse. For, besides the
degrading and abject services in which the class I belonged
to was employed, the first mate, my patron, in whose
u 3

294* ADVENTURES OF

watch I was, turned suddenly upon me, without any fault
on my part, and reviled and abused me. From that time,
he treated me, on all occasions, with mockery and contempt,
Not satisfied with making me do the most menial offices,
he punished me for his sport ; for I gave him no cause.
He one day told me, in his passion, that my usurious old
Jew of a father had hooked me on him as a spy, to defraud
him of his freightage ; adding, " He made me give a bond
too as security, but I '11 be damned if I don't make a bond-
slave of you ! " It is needless to tell you what a miserable
life I led.

iC Our captain lived apart, as a sort of deity, and so I
believe he thought himself. He associated with none but
two or three of the passengers of the highest rank, and
issued all his orders through the first officer. One night,
off Madeira, it was blowing hard, when a man called out,
— e A strange sail on the weather bow!' I was standing
near him, and answered, — * Very well, I'll report it;' —
though I saw nothing but what seemed a great black cloud,
and proceeded aft to acquaint the first officer with it, who
had charge of the watch. I beheld him asleep on the
carronade slide; a new feeling awoke in my bosom, —
revenge ! "

zi What," I asked, " did you stab the fellow, and throw
his carcass overboard ? "

" Oh, no; it was but a boyish spite; — if I were to
meet him now, perhaps I might do as you say. I left him
asleep, and went down to the captain, whom I awoke with,
— c There is a large ship just under our lee-bow !'

" He started up, saying, ( Where is the officer of the
watch ? '

" ' I cannot find him, sir.'

" c Not find him!' and up rushed the captain. The
officer was sleeping close to the companion ladder ; so that,
on the captain's putting his foot on the deck, he stood before
him, and called out his name. The affrighted sleeper
sprung up at the well-known voice of his stern commander.
But there was no time to waste in words ; it was blowing
a hard gale, and the sea running high ; the dark and moving
mass which, an instant before, I had thought a cloud or

A YOUNGER SON. 29^

land, now in the form of an immense ship dismasted, came
driving towards us. Our captain roared out to put the
helm down, and turn the hands up ; but it seemed too late.
A voice, trying to make itself heard through a trumpet,
hailed us as from a tower, for so she loomed, as she drifted
before the wind, borne on by a gigantic sea, which lifted
her above us. The blue lights burning on her forecastle
were reflected on our close-reefed topsail. It appeared in-
evitable that, as she replunged in the deep trough of the
sea, in which we lay, becalmed by her monstrous hull, we
should be crushed, or cut in two. Our sails struck against
the masts with a thundering sound ; and the crew, scram-
bling up the hatchways in their shirts, but half awake, in-
voluntarily screamed at the sight of the immense ship coming
upon us. Panic-struck we could do nothing ; and she,
impelled by the fury of the sea and winds, was borne on ?
rolling and plunging, without sail or mast to steer or steady
her. It was a scene that appalled the most hardy ; some
held out their arms widely, and shrieked ; others fell on
their knees ; and more threw themselves headlong down
the hatchways ; and though it was but a moment, such a
moment makes a boy an old man. A loud and more dis-
tinctly heard voice, speaking through a trumpet, again
hailed us, — it seemed our death summons, — ' Starboard
your helm, or we shall run you down ! '

u As the wave was lifting us up, the stranger struck
us. There was a frightful crash. Then I heard the loud
shrieks of our men, and giving myself up for lost, con-
vulsively griped hold of the shrouds, and awaited my fate.
My eyes were riveted on the stranger ; she passed, as I
thought, over us, and then lay, like a gigantic rock, im-
movable, close on our lee-quarter. The gale, unimpeded,
again roared among our shrouds, and the sea broke over
us. After a horrible pause, the bustle and the noise of
the winds, waves, and voices recalled me to my senses.
The stranger had struck us on our quarter, and carried
away our quarter gallery, stern-boat, and main-boom ; —
nothing more, — and we were safe. The ship again hailed
us, and asked our name. She then ordered us to keep
u 4

296*

ADVENT CRES 0E

close to her during the night, and added that she was his
Britannic Majesty's ship, Victory.

iC That night nothing was said to the first officer ; but
he was put under close arrest. Indeed the panic was so
great that, for a long time, every one seemed under a spell,
and our captain and officers were only recalled to their
duty by the frequent night-signals from the Victory, with
the roar of her immense guns to enforce attention to them,
and to keep us in our station on her lee-quarter ; for
they feared we should give them the slip during the
night.

" In the morning, when I went on deck, I found we
had lost our convoy ; and the Victory, still close to us,
wras making signals for us to take her in tow. For this
purpose, as there was more swell than a boat could live in,
we veered an empty cask astern, with a rope attached to
it, for her to take on board. This done, she fastened
halsers, as big as our cables, to the rope ; and we hauled
them on board over the taffrail, secured them to our
main-mast, made all the sail we could carry, and bore up
for the island of Madeira. Our situation was most peril-
ous ; for, notwithstanding the great length of the halsers
by which we were towing, the weight and size of the Vic-
tory, then the largest ship in the world, gave us dreadful
shocks as we lifted up trembling on the crest of a wave,
and she sank beneath us in its hollow, — she seemed
dragging us stern foremost downward ; then again when
we laboured, becalmed in the deep trough, and she was
lifted up, she appeared plunging down directly on us.
Sometimes the tow ropes, though nearly the size of my
body, snapped like rotten twine ; and we had again the
difficult and dangerous task of getting her tow-ropes on
board. Luckily that night the wind abated, or I think
we should both have foundered. The strain on our ship
was so great, that besides the danger of carrying away our
main -mast, the seams of our deck opened, and the sea
broke over us, sweeping away all before it, and threatened
destruction by filling us with water. Our captain hailed
the Victory, and represented our danger : the only reply
was, ( If you cast off the tow-rope, we will sink you/

A YOUNGER SON. 2Q7

" On board the Victory, they had eased her by throwing
overboard the guns on her upper deck, setting storm- sails
on the stumps of her lower masts, and by every means in
their power. The next day the gale was considerably
abated, though the sea was still heavy. We brought to
a large West India ship bound to Madeira, and she was
compelled to take our place.

Ci Our captain then went on board the late admiral's
ship, when her commander, after reprimanding him for
his bad look-out during the night, said he should pass
over his conduct in consideration of the service he had
done in having been the means of saving to his majesty
and his country the most valuable of their ships that bore
the triumphant flag of Nelson, and that was then bearing
his body.

C( He gave our captain a certificate to this effect. This
somewhat appeased our proud commander ; and, the
danger over, his wrath was allayed against the delinquent
officer, whom he had threatened, in his passion, to anni-
hilate. Besides, they were relations, or at least of the same
name — Patterson ; and you know, sir, Scotchmen are
clansmen, and care not if all the world goes to wreck, so
that their own particular clan escapes, and profits by the
general loss. But I ask your pardon, sir, — there may be
some very good men amongst them."

CHAPTER XXXIV.

That boat and ship shall never meet again! Byron.

Thou must hold water in a witch's sieve,

And be liege lord of all the elves and fays,

To venture so. Keats.

fi The first officer," he continued, " returned to his duty,
and had no difficulty in tracing the origin of his disgrace
to me. I need not say my condition was not improved
by this event. Oh, how I envied the life of the most ill-

298 ADVENTURES OF

used chimney-sweeper or outcast beggar ! Their exist-
ence seemed passed in bliss compared to mine ! Besides,
they could fly from a heartless beadle or cruel master,
while I (for so I then thought) was a hopeless slave.
But, sir, I am detaining you."

ce Oh, no," I replied, " go on ;" for the similarity of
this man's fate with Walter's doubly interested me, and I
already felt a friendship for the narrator. By gazing on
his features, as he spoke, I was soon familiarised to the
sight of the frightful figures portrayed on his skin, and
(( saw his visage in his mind."

cc At length," said he, " by the usual passage, we en-
tered the China seas. One night, the ship being anchored
off an island (for what purpose I forget), I was ordered
in the boat which lay astern, to take care of her. Sud-
denly the thought crossed my mind that I might take ad-
vantage of this and escape. Without for a moment
weighing the hazards of such an enterprize, I gave myself
up to the impulse. There was a mast, a sail, and a keg
of water in the boat, for she had been employed in land-
ing on the island to leeward of us, to seek for water.
This determined me. It did not then occur to me there
were so many things necessary, especially bread. I had
only brought my supper of biscuit and beef with me :
compass and charts I never thought of. The night was
dark, a steady breeze blowing out of the gulf, and the
sea tolerably smooth. I took a favourable opportunity of
all being quiet on board, slipped the painter which held
the boat, and, after drifting astern in fearful suspense for
a short time, got the mast up, veered round, and soon lost
sight of the ship.

" An hour elapsed, when I thought I saw a lantern
hoisted by her, and afterwards plainly distinguished a blue-
light. I hauled in towards the island, that, by running to
leeward of it, I might be screened when daylight should
appear. Thanks to my having been born near a dock-
yard, and to my fondness for boating, I had learned to
manage a boat very well.

ce But only, sir, think an instant on the alteration a few
months had made in my fate, and more particularly that

A YOUNGER SON. 2Q9

of a few hours ; yet the last I could not regret. My heart,
however, misgave me when at sunset the next evening I
pondered on my desolate condition — alone in a little boat,
without compass, or the means of existence, on the wide
ocean, the wild waters all around me, and the cloudy and
then starless sky above me. My folly struck me to the
heart. I wished myself on board the ship again. I wept
bitter tears, resigned the helm in despair, and left the boat
to be drifted at the mercy of the sea and winds. Hunger
long kept my eyes open : however, at last, after drinking
some water, I slept, overcome by toil and fasting. My
sleep was long and troubled : it was near day when I
awToke, and the sky was clear. I again loosened the sail
to the breeze, and ran before the wind. I endeavoured
to think what course 1 was in. From the direction of the
wind and the north star, I concluded I was running to-
wards the islands in the Sooloo archipelago, and that the
high land which I saw in the morning was Borneo. I was
steering nearly due south, and the island of Paragua, near
which I had left the ship, must have been nearly astern.
The breeze continued fresh, and my little bark went fast
through the wrater. There was no vessel of any kind in
sight. I detected myself unconsciously nibbling round
the rim of my only remaining biscuit. I considered if I
should haul in for Borneo ; but the wind veered several
points, and, finding I should have to beat up to it, I was
forced to proceed.

(i The fear of starvation already made me feel starving :
yet the wind freshened, and I knew I could not be long
without making one of the countless islands which lay be-
fore me. I was determined to run slap ashore on the first
I could. This day I passed in torture from hunger : I
felt sick and desponding. The day passed, when I saw
no land ahead, and lost sight of the land astern. At night
I became wild and feverish, and arraigned Providence for
having abandoned me. The night was clear, almost as
light as day, and as I sat sullenly at the helm, I heard
something fall splashingly into the boat, and sprang up for
joy as I eagerly grasped hold of it — -a bright, silvery-
scaled fish, nearly a pound in weight. My joy cooled on

300 ADVENTURES OF

reflecting that I had no fire to cook it — not even a knife
to scale it, so ill was I provided. I threw it down in the
boat, and resumed my desponding station at the helm.
My eye now caught something dark floating on the surface
of the water : I edged the boat that way, and stretching
out my arms, lifted what I thought a small log of wood,
but which proved to be a turtle. I threw it in the
bottom of the boat. These two god-sends, by lengthening
the distance between me and starvation, re-assured my
mind, and, lashing the helm, I again fell asleep.

ce But I was soon awakened by the water rushing over
the gunwale of the boat, which heeling over on the side I
was lying, it covered me. I believed she was swamping,
but had recollection enough to cast off the sheet, when the
boat righted, though up to the thwarts in water, Securing
the sail, I turned to with my cap, and baled. The wind
had freshened, the sea was getting up, and the weather
lowered threateningly. Still the night was light. I reefed
the sail, again set it, the boat scudded at a great rate, and
I felt confident of seeing some land in the morning.

" I now became so hungry that I sought out the fish,
and, from biting and sucking at the tail, I proceeded up-
wards towards the head. It was so deliciously refreshing,
so far superior to any I had ever eaten before, that I won-
dered people spoiled them by cooking. However, I had
forbearance to stop when I came to the thick part, to re-
serve it for a relish on the morrow : but this served rather
to sharpen my appetite, than appease my hunger. I be-
gan to look longingly and greedily on the turtle, which was
flapping about, and, remembering it had nearly escaped
when the water came into the boat, I lashed it by the fins.
The remainder of the night was passed in thinking how I
could open the shell to get at the meat ; and I cursed my
improvidence again and again, in not having provided my-
self with a knife, a compass, a quadrant, and a nory. It
seemed I only wanted these four articles to fit me for cir-
cumnavigating the globe : for you know, sir, a man feels
full of confidence after a good supper."

A YOUNGER SON. 301

CHAPTER XXXV.

With dizzy swiftness, round, and round, and round,

Ridge after ridge the straining boat arose,

Till on the verge of the extremest curve,

Where through an opening of the rocky bank

The waters overflow, and a smooth spot

Of glassy quiet mid those battling tides

Is left, the boat paused shuddering. Shelley.

(i That night I ran a great distance. As the day broke, I
watched with intense anxiety to discover land ahead. There
was as much sea running as my small boat could live in, and
I was kept almost constantly baling. My life seemed to de-
pend on making land quickly ; and I cannot describe my
disappointment and horror, when the day did appear, to see
I had run past several small islands in the dark, and the
wide sea before me, without a solitary speck on the horizon.
The remainder of the fish — I could not help it — I had
devoured during the night. I made a vain attempt to
haul my wind, and fetch one of the islands I had passed ;
but the wind and sea were too high, and if I had not in-
stantly again put the boat before the wind, I should have
been swamped.

" A few hours after, notwithstanding every effort to
keep my eyes on the horizon ahead, that I might catch
the first appearance of land, and shape my course so as
not again to get to leeward of it, fierce famine again so
gnawed my stomach that, in spite of every endeavour to
the contrary, from occasional wanderings my eye became
fixed and riveted on the turtle. I could attend to nothing
else. If I exerted myself to slue my head in another di-
rection, it was only like shaking a compass — the turtle
acting on my eye-ball as the pole on the magnetic needle,
bringing it always round again to the same point. My
thoughts, too, were absorbed in imagining the possible means
of opening its shell. I unlashed it, brought it aft, and pored
over the mazy, coloured lines and divisions marked on
its back, as if I had been studying a chart. Never had
I seen any thing so well secured, except the iron chest in
my father's counting-house, to open either of which with-

30% ADVENTURES OF

out iron appeared impossible. Then I studied the struc-
ture of the boat till I could have built one, to discover if a
bolt or nail might be safely substracted ; but in vain. The
extremities of the turtle, indeed, seemed more in my power;
but one end was fast locked by its horny head and bony
fins, and the other by his fins and a substance tougher
than the sole of my shoe. As to its head, as if aware of
my purpose, it never even put it out. I then tried to crack
the shell by beating it against the gunwale of the boat ;
but the boat was stove, without the slightest fracture in
the shell. After many fruitless attempts, I succeeded in
grasping hold of its head, when I secured it with a rope-
yarn, and, making use of the last expedient, at length I
killed it/'

"But how?" I asked.

" By gnawing through the skin of the throat, though
my eyes were well nigh beaten out by the fins. Then I
thrust my fingers into the breast, forced off the fins, and
so got into it. But in my haste, or from ignorance, for
I knew nothing about the matter, I suppose I burst the
gall; for though I washed the flesh well, it was very
bitter. The eggs, of which it was full, though they were
very small, were the best part. However, my appetite
was appeased, and I now turned my attention to look out
for land ; when I shouted with rapture as I discerned it
on my starboard bow/'

While describing his contention with the turtle, his
looks and gestures became so fiercely vehement, that I
shoved over to him the remains of the meat on the table ;
and kept my throat at a respectable distance from his
vulture-like claws, which the black lines tattooed on them
made them resemble.

" At the sight of land/' said he, " my expiring energies
were awakened. The breeze was still increasing, and,
fearful a gale was coming on, I exerted myself to make
the island quickly. Although the boat almost flew through
the water, so that the spray dashed right over me, I
thought, in my impatience, she lay like a log. I saw
several other islands to the south of this. The sun was
nearly sinking when I had approached the land so as to see
the surf breaking on the rocks. In my anxiety to be on

A YOUNGER SON. 303

shore, I heedlessly let the boat run on, and neglected to
run along the shore to seek a beach or landing place, and
avoid the shoals and rocks. Blindly I scudded on even to
where the surf was highest, and found myself suddenly
embayed amidst rocks, over which the waves were furi-
ously and unceasingly breaking. In my too great eager-
ness to escape from sea-perils, I was devoting myself to
destruction on the far more dangerous rocks. I let go the
sheet which held the sail ; it fluttered wildly in the wind.
The sea-birds flew screaming over me. My little bark,
almost buried in the spray, which beat on me like a hail-
storm, was tossed, wheeled, and whirled about, with so
much water in her, that I hardly knew if I still floated
in her or in the sea. Just as she was borne by a
high wave madly against a rock to be dashed to pieces,
the wave, not breaking, bounded back like a ball, and
hurried her against the opposite rocks, and then rebounded
as if in play. The noise of the winds and waves, break-
ing all about, was deafening. The space between me and
the shore was white and frothy as milk when overboil-
ing, and seemed close to me, without a chance of my
arriving at it. Suddenly the boat disappeared from under
me. Though I could swim, my efforts were vain ; for
after I had, with all my strength, approached within an
arm's length of some of the rocks, the re-action of the swell
drove me back again, mocking my exertions. At length,
worn out, and bleeding all over from wounds inflicted by
the lancet-like points of the coral reefs, against which
I was driven from time to time, I felt myself going down.
I believed it was all over with me, and must say that death
by drowning is not so frightful as it is represented. Per-
haps my previous exertions, hunger, loss of blood, exhaus-
tion, and the hopeless situation I might be in if I were
landed, made it the less bitter. However that may be, a
calm sensation, almost amounting to pleasure, came over
me as the water closed over my head. After that, I even
remember, as I still mechanically or convulsively struggled
for a few moments, that I seemed suspended under the
water, not sinking. Then came a pang as if my heart had
burst, and life was fled."

304 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XXXVI.

The gentle island, and the genial soil,

The friendly hearts, and feasts without a toii,H

The courteous manners, but from nature caught,

The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbought j

Could these have charms for rudest sea-boys, driven

Before the mast by every wind of heaven. " Bvrox.

He paused to fill his callian, and then proceeded in his
story. fC How long I remained under the water I know
not. A sensation of dreaming and trying to awake, of
which I have a faint recollection, was what I next felt,
and then of suffocation. I thought people were endea-
vouring to stifle me, "by holding me under the waters of a
torrent, and that its noise drowned my cries. At last my
senses were partly restored. I distinguished some figures
leaning over me. I was giddy, sick, and shivering with
cold. The people looked very strange, and talked to me ;
but I could not understand them. They were very kind,
for they were chafing my body with their hands, to recall me
to life. But I hasten over this, sir, to tell you of my
astonishment, when, so far recovered, I could comprehend
things about me.

"I lay on the ground with mats under me, and cotton
cloths above me. There were three women, nearly naked ;
but I afterwards found their being so was owing to their
having covered me with their garments, not from the cus-
tom of the country. Their faces, arms, and necks were
covered with black lines. They had gold rings in their
nostrils, and on their arms and ankles. They were very
young, and were it not, as it then struck me, for the strange
marks which disfigured them, handsome, and not very dark.
They screamed when I spoke and moved to sit up. Dread-
ful hunger had again taken possession of me. I made
signs to this effect, when they all ran away, but soon re-
turned with fruits. Greedily were they devoured, one
after the other, as they gave them ; while they were fright-
ened at the ferocity with which I ate.

(i My hunger satisfied, I gazed round to see where I

A YOUNGER SON. 305

was, and found myself on the brink of a little river, smooth
and transparent ; yet I was startled at hearing the loud
surf breaking near me. It was not in sight, for a high
screen of rocks lay between me and the sea. It after-
wards appeared that when I had sunk, a strong under-
ground eddying current had carried me, along its windings,
into the mouth of this little river, calm as a pond, being
completely sheltered from the wind, and not visible from
the sea, though running into it from a jungle. Three girls,
who had just come down to this river's mouth in a canoe,
to be in readiness to spear fish in the night, always plen-
tiful during boisterous weather at sea, must have arrived at
the instant my body came up to the surface. Neither sur-
prise nor fear prevented them from dragging me to the
shore. For a long time they considered me dead. To
decoy the fish they lighted a fire, near which they had
laid me ; a happy chance, as I conjecture, to which I owe
my life. My first symptoms of breath and motion, as they
occasionally came to look at me, were sufficient to excite
them to do all they could to preserve me, which, though
little, was enough.

' e I am now, sir, speaking of the ensuing morning ; for
I remained there all the night under their care. Then I
was enough recovered to stand on my legs, and they led
me down to the canoe, which they launched in the river.
I had a strong repugnance, a dread of the water ; but we
all embarked. They seated me down in the bottom, and
commenced with their paddles to urge the boat along.

ec When we left the little open pool, formed by the

river, hedged round with rocks, cocoa-nut trees, and yellow

moss, and ascended the stream, the trees and bamboos were

so thick on each side, as, in many parts, to meet together

overhead, and exclude both sun and light. On these trees

were hanging in clusters, like living fruit, little black

monkeys not bigger than an apple. The sweet smell of

the trees and blossoms, and the kind looks of the girls who

. conducted me, went far towards restoring me. The river

e ; turned about a good deal, and, at times, narrowed. In

A many places it had burst through its banks, and formed

streamlets, of which you could trace the course by the loftier

x

306

ADVENTURES OF

and brighter trees, and by the luxuriant vegetation. In
about two hours we came to one of these streamlets ; its
mouth was larger and deeper than those I had observed
before ; they turned their canoe into this, and made signs
for me to land. I did so : the vegetation was so thick
here, that there was scarcely sufficient space for us to stand
upon ; nor could I see any path, where the canoe was
landed, amongst the long wild grass.

' ' They made signs for me to follow them ; and they
walked down in the shallow part of the stream for a few
minutes ; then, after a turn, they came to a path, still by
the stream. Here, amidst a grove of tall trees, entirely
cleared from underwood, there was a multitude of little
huts, built of wood, and covered with leaves. They led
me into one of two or three, the largest and nigh together,
fenced by a prickly-pear hedge.

ec On clapping their hands, a number of old women and
young naked children came out of different holes and
corners. After staring at me, they asked a thousand ques-
tions of the girls who had conducted me thither; then
they came and scrutinised me, touched my hair and hands,
and returned to listen again to my story. Soon after all
the old women of the village, in like manner, visited and
examined me.

(c Mean time my hostesses supplied me with abundance
of provisions, flesh broiled, rice, Indian corn roasted, and
fruits. What astonished me most was that I saw no men,
except two or three decrepit ones. But," said my nar-
rator, " the night is coming on, and therefore I'll hasten
over my tale of years ; for all seem but as yesterday, since
few events have marked them.

" I found a refuge amongst the kindest-hearted and
most simple-minded people in the world. When I arrived,
the men of the village, as I afterwards learned, were gone
to attend the king on a great hunting and fishing tour,
through and round the island, which takes place twice
every year. The three girls who had gone fishing down
the river, and preserved me, were this king's daughters.
At night when I retired to sleep, my surprise was great
when the eldest of the girls, after making up for me

A YOUNGER SON. SO?

a comfortable bed of reeds and mats, conferred a few
minutes with her sisters, and then came, and lay down by
my side,"

On my laughing, the Zaoo Englishman seemed annoyed,
and said, " Sir, it is the custom of the country for the
eldest unmarried female of the family to sleep with the
stranger."

(i Go on ; I approve of the custom very much. It is
admirable,~especiaTIy for us travellers; and I wish such sort
of hospitality were universal/'

ce From that time," he added, " this girl became my
wife/'

That, thought I, alters the case, and I looked grave.
" The king," continued he, " returned with his people,
and expressed his surprise and joy at finding me one of
his family. By degrees I became accustomed to their
manners, and spoke their language. I had naturally a
mechanical turn, improved by my vicinity to a dock-yard
in England, so that I was useful to the old king, who soon
loved me as a son, and gave his two other daughters to me
for wives, at their own earnest request. Then I went into
a separate house, a gift from the king ; but he could not
long endure my absence. You may see, sir, I have lost
every vestige of civilisation, and am, as it were, a native of
the island/'

ee But," said I, as he concluded, " you have not told me
whither you are bound/'

" Oh," he replied, cc as you are English, I believe there
is no harm in my telling you. Why, sir, within these few
years, several vessels of the Spaniards and Dutch have
touched on our island ; and, besides plundering our coasts^
they have seized some of the unarmed people to make
slaves of them. They come from the Philippine Islands.
1 am going, sir, to petition the aid of the English govern-
ment in India, and to purchase arms and ammunition for a
battery, or "

I interrupted him with, — Ci The latter is wise; but as
to your petition, — don't think of such a thing. What
have you to induce the Company to interfere ? "

308 ADVENTURES OF

" A valuable pearl fishery/' he said, which neither they
nor any European is aware of except myself."

I placed my hand on his mouth, and exclaimed, " Never
again mention it to a living being, or your island will be
wrested from you ! Collect your pearls in secret, and
barter them for arms, or let them lie quietly where they
are.

This advice I impressed so seriously on him that, 1
believe, he has followed it, and I have been careful not to
betray him. " But still," he said, " I must go to Cal-
cutta ; for there I hope to hear of my family, and I wish
to let them know where I am living, and that I am per-
fectly content. Return to Europe I never will ! Besides
that I have wives and children here, and am beloved by
every one, what could I do in Europe with the marks of
my savage life branded on my face and body ? Here they
exact reverence, as they show I am the son of a king ;
there they would make me stared at, and hooted wherever I
went, like a wild beast."

CHAPTER XXXVII.

As to the Christian creed, if true

Or false, I never question'd it :
I took it as the vulgar do.

For my vext souliiad leisure yet
To doubt the things men say, or deem
That they are other than they seem. Shelley.

u But where, in the name of old Neptune,'* I asked,
e< did you get this antique-looking vessel ? Or is this the
pearl oyster bank raised up, and set afloat ? "

" Seventeen or eighteen months ago," he replied,
« when I was out with a number of canoes, pulling round
the south-west part of the island, we discovered this vessel,
dismasted and drifting towards the land. I approached
her, and, seeing no one, went on board. I found her

A YOUNGER SON. 309

entirely abandoned. On opening her hatches, and going
below, dreadful exhalations arose as from putrid bodies ;
of which, indeed, we found a heap lying huddled up to-
gether, in an undistinguishable mass. By a few vestiges
we believed them to be Lascars or Arabs, or both. There
was a large ring-tailed cat, together with some great water-
rats, tearing at and feeding on the corrupted bodies. My
people said, and I suppose they were right, that it was a
country vessel, which had been attacked by pirates, and
the crew massacred. Every thing valuable or portable,
that could be come at, had been taken from her. We
towed her into a little port in the island, cleaned her, and
repaired what we could. I have been a year about her, and
you see how little I have been able to do, having neither
proper tools, iron, cordage, tar, paint, canvass, anchor, nor
cable. Such shifts as I have been put to you perceive.
Whether I shall proceed, or obey the dictates of common
sense, and go back, I cannot tell. Your opinion, sir, as
you seem kindly interested in my behalf, and are my
countryman, shall decide on my movements."

I shook hands with him, and professed that, in either
event, I would do all in my power for him. But, as it
was then late, I returned to the schooner, with a promise
to lie by him that night, and to visit him early on the
morrow, accompanied by my carpenter and boatswain, that
his vessel might be properly surveyed^ to see if she was
seaworthy.

Accordingly, the next morning, a careful examination
took place, and I received rather a favourable report.
After consulting with his highness the Prince of Zaoo,
and having listened to all his motives for wishing to visit
an European port, where he could procure arms and sup-
plies, and a variety of articles he wanted, I recommended
him to run along the Malabar coast,, with the land and
sea breezes, and go to Pulo Penang, where his vessel would
be repaired, and put into better sailing trim ; and thence
to go on to Bengal, as there alone he could procure the
supplies he wanted.

In reply to my questions regarding the island and its
inhabitants, he told me the island is small and low, with
x 3

310 ADVENTURES OF

the exception of one rugged mountain nearly in the centre,
which the natives informed him had, according to tra-
dition, been once all on fire. « I therefore conjecture/'
observed the prince, " it has been a volcano, possibly
thrown up from the bottom of the sea, and then enlarged,
as it is now increasing, by the living coral. You know
how rapid vegetation is in this climate. They add, that
the village where the king now resides was formerly close
to the sea ; and by the sand and sea shells found on dig-
ging, it seems to have been so. The whole island is now
covered with large timber and impenetrable jungle, except
towards the summit of the mountain, and in those places,
near the rivers and the streams, which have been cleared
by the natives for their dwellings. We have wild and
tame hogs, goats, deer, monkeys, and poultry ; then there
are yams, kladi, and a variety of roots and herbs, mangoes,
plantains, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits, while tne sea coast
swarms with, shell and other fish. Where Providence
does so much, we do little but fish and hunt. The inha-
bitants are wise in contenting themselves with what they
have, never toiling and sweating for more. What is
forced and wrung from the earth by hard labour is embit-
tered by the pain with which it is purchased. The
women are very industrious, attending to household
affairs.

" Our people are spread about the island in villages,
governed by their own laws, which are simple, equitable,
and summary. A great council is held twice a year, at
which the king presides, hears complaints, and settles all
disputes. Women have their full share of liberty. Every
one may marry whom she likes, and return to her family
if ill used by her husband. Before marriage they may
indulge in sexual intercourse with the unmarried and un-
betrothed ; but when married, it is considered so infamous,
that both parties are branded and turned out of the com-
munity. Polygamy is allowed, though none but chiefs
are permitted to have more than two wives. As every
woman is obliged to do the work of her own house and
family, she is not only content that her husband should
take another wife, but generally provides him with one

A YOUNGER SON.

311

herself^ either a favourite sister or friend, for there are
neither slaves nor servants among them.

" The women are well made, gentle, and remarkably
attached to their families. They are clean in their persons.,
attired in a cloth made of the bark of a tree, which is both
soft and durable, and dyed of all colours. Our houses
are raised a story on bamboos, the lower part serving as a
magazine for provisions. The tobacco you are now
smoking grows on the island ; our people all use it. They
manufacture these wooden pipes out of a sort of jessamine
creeper, by forcing the pith out when green ; and the
bowls are made of a hard wood burnt. They make their
own spears and knives, the handles of which are orna-
mented with carving. There is a remarkable diversity in
the features and complexion of the people. Occasionally
there has been a little commerce, by way of barter, (for
money is not known,) with small vessels from Borneo;
which brought iron, hatchets, wire, coarse cloths, brass, and
old muskets ; and in return received a variety of gums
and resins, cocoa-nut oil, sandal and kiabouka wood. But
the approach to the island is dangerous, owing to the
strong under- ground currents, and the immense coral
reefs on which the sea is perpetually breaking. Then
there is only one port, very small, and not very secure.''

Upon my inquiring if they had any religion, and what
it was, he said, " Yes, we have our superstitions, but no
priests. Our chiefs preside on particular ceremonies, sing
prayers, and make offerings to the evil spirits."

" But," I asked, " what is their faith ? "

" Oh, it is founded on the same as yours at home ; — a
belief in a good spirit which is above the earth, and in an
evil one which is beneath it. "

His highness had victualled his ship with paddy, deer
and goat's flesh, in slices of about the size of cutlets, dipped
in salt water, and dried in the sun, and fish cured in the
same way. Besides, he had great store of cocoa-nuts, and
a fiery sort of arrack made from the sap of the tree fer-
mented, with melons, pumpkins, onions, and an extraordi-
nary supply of tobacco, which was large and thick-leaved,
but of an excellent flavour. He gave me a boat-load of it,
x 4

312 ADVENTURES OP

and one of his pipes ; the latter 1 still preserve, in memory
of this strange being ; grotesque and wild figures of non-
descript animals are deeply chased on it.

During the day one of his princesses miscarried of a
prince ; and to my astonishment, shortly after, made her
appearance on deck, with the intention of bathing in the
sea.

Having already expended more time than was warranted
with him, I gave him a chart and compass, a few bottles
of brandy, a bag of biscuits, and what was of more im-
portance, I repaired his rudder, and put his vessel in a better
trim. He was profuse in thanks, and pressed a small
bag of pearls on me; which, as it was a plentiful product
of his island, I accepted. I then promised, if possible, to
visit his island ; when we cordially embraced, and made
sail on our different courses.

CHAPTER XXXVJII.

Or could say
The ship would swim an hour, which, by good luck,
Still swam, though not exactly like a duck. Byron.

It may be easily supposed, while this

Was going on, some people were unquiet ;
That passengers would find it much amiss

To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet. Ibid.

Continually in chase of something, I fell in, among
other coasting and country craft, with a Chinese junk,
drifted out of her course, on her return from Borneo.
She looked like a huge tea-chest afloat, and sailed about
as well. She was flat-bottomed and flat-sided; decor-
ations of green and yellow dragons were painted and gilded
all over her ; she had four or five masts, bamboo yards,
mat sails and coir rigging, double galleries all round, with
ornamented head and stern, high as my main top, and was
six hundred tons burden. Her interior was a complete
bazaar ; swarms of people were on board, and every indi-

A YOUNGER SON. 313

vidual, having a portion of tonnage in measured space,
had partitioned off his own, and converted it into a shop
or warehouse; they were like the countless cells of a
bee-hive, and must have amounted to some hundreds.
All sorts of handicraft trades were going on, as if on
shore, from iron forging to making paper of rice straw,
and glass of rice, chasing ivory fans, embroidering gold
on muslins, barbacuing fat pigs, and carrying them about
on bamboos for sale. In one cabin a voluptuous Tartar
and a tun-bellied Chinese had joined their dainties to-
gether; a fat dog, roasted entire, stuffed with turmeric,
rice, suet, and garlic, and larded with hog's grease,, the
real, delectable, and celebrated sea-slug, or sea-swallow's
nest, sharks' fins stewed to a jelly, salted eggs, and yellow
dyed pilaff formed their repast. A mighty china bowl of
hot arrack punch stood in the centre of the table, from
which a boy was continually ladling out its contents. Such
voracious feeders I never beheld ; they wielded their chop-
sties with the rapidity and incessant motion of a juggler
with his balls. The little, black, greedy twinkling eye of
the Chinese, almost buried in mounds of fat, glistened like
a fly flapping in a firkin of butter. The Tartar, with a
mouth the size of the ship's hatchway, seemed to have a
proportionate hold for stowage. Understanding these were
the two principal merchants on board, I had come to speak
to them ; but like hogs, buried up to the eyes in a savoury
waste of garbage, there was no moving them from the
dainties they gloated on. A sailor, who had conducted
me, whispered his Tartar owner who I was ; he grunted
out some reply, and with a greasy paw, placed several
handfuls of boiled rice on a corner of the table, indented
it with his fist, poured into the hollow some of the hog's
lardings out of the platter containing the roast dog, and
then, adding five or six hard boiled salt eggs, motioned
me to sit down and eat.

Driven away by these unclean brutes, I went into the
Tartar captain's cabin, built over the rudder. He was
stretched on a mat, smoking opium through a small reed,
watching the card of the compass, and chanting out,
" Kie ! Hooe ! — Kie ! Chee ! " Finding I might as well

S14 ADVENTURES OP

ask questions of the rudder as of him, I hailed the schooner
to send a strong party of men.

We then commenced a general search, forcing our way
into every cabin, when such a scene of confusion, chatter-
ing, and noise followed, as I never had heard before.
Added to this, there were the mowing and gibbering of
monkeys, apes, parrots, parroouets, bories, mackaws, hun-
dreds of ducks, fish- divers, pigs, and divers other beasts
and birds, hundreds of which were in this Mackow ark.
The consternation and panic among the motley ship's
crew, and merchant-passengers, arc neither to be imagined
nor described. They never had dreamed that a ship,
under the sacred flag of the emperor of the universe, the
king of kings, the sun of God which enlightens the world,
the father and mother of all mankind, could, and in his
seas, be thus assailed and overhauled. They exclaimed,
" Who are you ? — Whence did you come ? — What do
you here ? " Scarcely deigning to look at the little schooner,
whose low, black hull, as she lay athwart the junk's stern,
looked like a boat or a water- snake, they wondered at so
many armed and ferocious fellows, not believing they could
be stowed in so insignificant a vessel, whose hull scarcely
emerged from the water. A Hong silk merchant, while
his bales were handed into one of our boats, offered us a
handkerchief a piece, but protested against our taking his
great bales, when we could not possibly have room for
them.

A few grew refractory, and called out for aid to defend
their property. Some Tartar soldiers got together with
their arms; and the big-mouthed Tartar and his comrade,
swollen out with their feed of roast dog and sea-slug,
armed themselves, and came blowing and sputtering to-
wards me. I caught the Tartar by his mustachios, which
hung down to his knees ; in return he snapped a musket
in my face; it missed fire; his jaw was expanded, and I
stopped it for ever with my pistol. The ball entered his
mouth, (how could it miss it?) and he fell, not so grace-
fully as Caesar, but like a fat ox knocked on the head by a
sledge-hammer. The Chinese have as much antipathy to
villanous saltpetre, except in fire-works, as Hotspur's neat
and trimly dressed lord ; and their emperor, the light of

A YOUNGER SOX. 315

theunirerse, is as unforgiving and revengeful towards those
who kill his subjects, as our landed proprietors are towards
those who slaughter their birds. An English earl told me
the other day he could see no difference between the crime
of killing a hare on his property, and a man on his pro-
perty, arguing that the punishment should be the same for
both. However, I have killed many of the earl's hares,
and a leash or two of Chinese in my time, instigated to
commit these heinous crimes by the same excitement, —
that of their being forbidden and guarded against by
vindictive threats of pains and penalties.

But to return to the junk. We had a skirmish on the
deck for a minute or two, a few shots were fired, and a
life or two more lost in the fray. The schooner sent us
more men, and no further opposition was made. Then,
instead of gleaning a few of the most valuable articles, and
permitting them to redeem the remainder of the cargo by
paying a sum of money, as the rogues had resisted, I con-
demned her as lawful prize. We therefore began a regular
pillage, and almost turned her inside out. Every nook,
hole, and corner were searched ; every bale cut, and every
chest broken open. The bulky part of her cargo, which
consisted of camphor, woods for dyeing, drugs, spices, and
pigs of iron and tin, we left; but silks, copper, selected
drugs, a considerable quantity of gold dust, a fewT diamonds
and tiger-skins were ours ; and, not forgetting Louis, who
had entreated me to look out for sea -slug, I found some
bags of it in the cabin of my late friend, the defunct mer-
chant. Neither did I neglect the salted eggs, which, with
rice and jars of melted fat, victualled the ship. I took
some thousands of these eggs, a new and excellent sort of
provision for my ship's company. The Chinese preserve
them by merely boiling them in salt and water till they
are hard ; the salt penetrates the shell, and thus they wriii
keep for years.

The philosophic captain, whose business it was to attend
to the navigation and pilotage of the junk, having nothing
to do with the men or cargo, continued to inhale the
narcotic drug. His heavy eye was still fixed on the
compass, and his drowsy voice called out, " Kie ! Hooe !
— Kie ! Chee I " Though I repeatedly asked him whither

316 ADVENTURES OF

he was bound, his invariable answer was, c c Kie ! Hooe ! —
Kie ! Chee ! " I pointed my cutlass to his breast, but his
eyes remained fixed on the compass. I cut the bowl from
the stem of his pipe, but he continued drawing at the
reed, and repeating, " Kie ! Hooe ! — Kie ! Chee ! " On
shoving off, as I passed under the stern, I cut the tiller
ropes, and the junk broached up in the wind, but I still
heard the fellow singing out, from time to time, " Kie !
Hooe! — Kie! Chee!"

We had altogether a glorious haul out of the Chinaman.
Every part of our little vessel was crammed with mer-
chandize. Our men exchanged their tarred rags for shirts
and trowsers of various coloured silks, and looked more
like horse-jockeys than sailors. Nay, a few days after I
roused a lazy and luxurious old Chinese sow from the
midst of a bale of purple silk, where she was reclining ;
perhaps she thought she had the best right to it, as it
might have belonged to her master, or because she was one
of the junk's crew, or probably she was the owner herself
transmigrated into this shape, — there needed little alter-
ation. I also got some curious arms, particularly the
musket, or fowling-piece, which, had it obeyed its master's
intention, would have finished my career. The barrel,
luck, and stock, are deeply chased all over with roses and
figures of solid gold worked in. I preserve it now, and it
has recalled the circumstance by which it came into my
possession ; otherwise, it might have been driven, like any
others of greater moment, from my memory by the lapse
of time, and by more recent events.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Not a star
Shone, not a sound was heard ; the very winds,
Danger's grim playmates, on that precipice
Slept clasp'd in his embrace. Shelley.

Being now on the south-east side of the island of
Borneo, and the time for meeting De Ruyter drawing

A YOUNGER SON. 317

nigh, I made the best of my way to our rendezvous, a little
group of islands close to Borneo ; but just as I got sight of
land, it fell a dead calm, which lasted three or four days,
during which I lest one of my best men. Slung in the
bite of a rope, and lowered over the bow, he was nailing on
a sheet of copper that had become loose from the heads of
the nails being worn off. I was on deck, and, hearing a
dreadful noise and scream, I ran to the bow from which it
proceeded. A monstrous ground- shark had got hold of
the man's leg, and, while his fins and tail lashed the water
into a white foam, was tugging to draw the man under
water. Secured under the armpits with a strong rope,
and holding on the chain -plates, the man struggled violently
to save himself. When he saw me, he cried out, "" Oh,
Captain, save me ! " I hallooed to the men who were
gathering round, to bring the harpoons and boarding pikes,
and to lower the stern-boat ; and wdth the promptness of
sailors, fearless when a comrade is in danger, they attacked
the monster, A brother of the man even jumped over-
board, armed with a knife. The foam on the water was
dyed with blood, and the greedy and ferocious sea-devil
received many wounds, and was harpooned ere he relin-
quished his gripe ; but the line, from want of giving him
scope enough, was broken, and he escaped. Meantime,
the man, now insensible, was hauled on deck : his leg was
frightfully mangled, the flesh from above the calf being
drawn dowm like a stocking, and the bone left bar^e. We
had a sort of surgeon, whom Van Scolpvelt had picked up
at the Isle of France, but he turned out to be an idle and
drunken fellow, though not ignorant. The man died a
few days after : I suppose his wound was- past the art of
surgery.

An unlooked-for death on board a ship makes a great
and awful sensation. Sailors are as untaught, and have as
little communication with the enlightened world, as the
Arabs imprisoned in their deserts. The one studies the
sea of waters, and the other his sandy wastes, the winds
and their stars, like magic books, not to be decyphered ;
and who, ignorant of their causes, can contemplate these
mysterious powers, daily witnessing their wonderful changes

318 ADVENTURES OF

and effects, without becoming superstitious ? Certainly
not Arabs and sailors, whose firm faith in signs and omens
is as old and boundless as the sands and sea. It is curious
that so many superstitions belonging to the sea should be
general throughout the world ; for instance, seamen of all
countries and religions, from Lord Nelson, and the Captain
Pacha commanding the Ottoman navy, to the Mainotte
corsair and the Arab rais, all think it a dread omen of evil
to begin a voyage on a Friday, the Moslem's sabbath and
the Christian's day of the crucifixion. I had begun my
last voyage from the island near Pulo-Penang on that fatal
day ; and it is remarkable that the second mate, my country-
man, and two men, brothers, all admirable sailors and very
good men, when they heard me give the order to weigh
the anchor, were dissatisfied, and murmured. I frequently
laughed at them about it : they always answered, " You
will see, sir — we are not returned to port yet." It was
one of these brothers who lost his life by the shark, and
the other, shortly afterwards, lost his life in as strange a
manner.

Becalmed off Borneo, I one day pulled in- shore to look
at a small bay at the mouth of a river, and then pulled
some way up the river. We let go the grapnel to dine ;
and in the cool of the evening the men bathed. The
brother of the man who lost his life by the shark, an ex-
cellent swimmer, challenged a Malay (whom I had brought
as interpreter, in case I met with any of that nation), to
try which could dive the deeper, and remain the longer
under water. I was just out of the water, and dressing.
They plunged in together, and were so long under water
as to alarm me. At last, up came the dark head of the
Indian : he was astonished at being beaten, and said the
white man must be the devil, for no one else could beat
him. Our anxiety became intense : every eye was strained
as if its glance could penetrate the deep and turbid stream.
The unfortunate diver never again appeared. We dragged
and searched in every possible manner, but in vain. The
night came on, and compelled us to return to the ship.

The strange deaths of these brothers, within a month
of each other, made a strong impression. Matted ve-

A YOUNGER SON. 319

getation, or a sunken tree, might have entangled him, or
the cramp might have paralysed his efforts to rise, — or,
more probably, the jaws of an alligator. Some, indeed.,
thought that grief at his brother's death, which certainly
had deeply affected him, made his own death voluntary,
Their fate threw a melancholy and gloom over the ship's
crew, beyond what the loss of the greater part in broil or
battle would have done.

As we slowly crept along the south-east coast, towards
the appointed port, the weather was, and had been for a
length of time, unusually clear and bright, with calm and
gentle airs. One evening, just before sunset, I observed
the first appearance of a cloud for many days. Thin
misty vapours, of a gauze-like transparency, began to
envelope the mountains to the westward ; and suddenly, as
the sun disappeared behind them, a bar of bright flame
shot along their summits, then wreathed itself around the
dreary dome of the highest peak, and remained there for
some moments, glittering like a crown of rubies. The
moon was of a dusky red, the sea changed its colour, and
was unusually clear and transparent. I started at seeing
the rocks, the fish, and the shells at its bottom ; we sounded,
and there were twelve fathoms water. The atmosphere
was hot and heavy ; the flame of a candle, burning on deck,
arose as clear as in a vault. I ordered the sails to be furled,
and the anchor to be let go, as we were evidently drifting
in shore, determined to get under way with the first ap-
pearance of wind. I remarked to the second mate, who
had the watch, cc Well, now we are anchored, the charm
is broken ; is it not ? v

The man replied sulkily, "We are not in port yet,
sir.'"

320 ADVENTURE9 OP

CHAPTER XL.

Hark ! tis the rushing of a wind that sweeps

Earth and the ocean. See! the lightnings yawn

Deluging heaven with fire, and the lashed deeps

Glitter and boil beneath. Shelley.

The shore nearest to us was low, and appeared like a
huge swamp, overgrown with monstrous reeds, which
waved about, though we had not a breath of air. There
was the abode of wild elephants, tiger s, serpents, and
fevers. We thought we heard the roar of the tigers in the
stillness of the night. I watched eagerly for the lightest
air, to enable us to remove from this dreary spot. The
country evidently was not habitable for man ; yet, as the
night advanced, we saw lights flickering about on the
surface of the morass, like the lights used by fishermen ;
others were stationary, as from a village.

There were no clouds visible to leeward, yet not a single
star shone. At length the lightning began to play about
the mountains inland. I was sitting with Zela on deck,
watching these unusual signs, which filled us both with
melancholy bodings ; and she was telling me what strange
fires, simooms, and whirlwinds she had witnessed on her
own wild sands, when, at that instant, I heard a strange
noise, such as comes before the thunder breaks. " Hush !''
I said, ee what is that ? " and sprung on my feet. The blow
was struck before I had time to turn the hands up, for the
men were sleeping on deck. We were dismasted. I looked
aloft, and by the light of the sheet-lightning, saw nothing
standing but two bare poles. All our loftier spars, yards,
and rigging were flying away, borne up by the wind, as if
they had been thistle-down. The sea was all white with
foam, and flew about, covering us as if under a cataract.
Our ports, and a great part of the gang-ways, were blown
clear away ; the gun-bolts were drawn, and the guns broke
loose. Our little vessel plunged madly into the sea, and
for a time we were actually under its surface. I grasped
hold of Zela and the shrouds, and with difficulty retained

A YOUNGER SON. 32 1

my grasp against the weight of the waters. The cahle
parted, or we should inevitably have foundered.

I first drew my breath on seeing the bow of the vessel
reappear above the water. I called to the men, but none
answered, and I thought they were all swept into the sea.
At length, speechless, panting, and panic-struck, some
straggling individuals came crawling aft. " Are there any
men overboard ? " I inquired, and looking anxiously over
the stern, a voice called to me from the sea, " Oh,
Captain I" It was clearer far than mid-day; the flashes
of bright sheet-lightning were without interval, almost
blinding me. The sea, too, was white as snow, and I
thought I could distinguish many dark heads feebly and
vainly struggling in it. The voice that called on me I
recognised as my favourite Swedish boy's, and fancied I
saw his desparing and piteous look.

The fatal blast of the simoom was over. I loosened
Zela, who had clung to me in agony, and placed her in
safety, accompanied by the American mate, who had seized
the helm. Rushing to a light whale boat, lying on the
gangway — for the one astern was washed away — and
seeing it had escaped the wreck, I called on the men to
save their comrades. For a moment they hesitated,
scarcely knowing if they themselves were saved. I then
called, by name, some of my own countrymen, and said,
{c What ! shall our shipmates perish for want of a beat,
or a rope ? Not a hand to throw them even a rope I Get
out the boat, and where is Strong ? By Heaven he is
overboard, or he would not have needed to be called !
Heave together, my lads ; — she is afloat ; ■ — now take
care she don't get adrift or swamp ; — that 's well ; — now
the four best men on board got into her ; — I'll go with
you ; — I know where they are ; — come, no more hands "
(for now all seemed eager) ; <c and you, sir, keep her in
the wind ; — hoist lights ; — have ropes ready ! "

We shoved off; the wind had as suddenly lulled as it
had burst, but the sea was dashing, jostling, and tumbling
about, like a river where it empties itself into the sea. The
lightning, too, died away into faint and indistinct flashes,
and it was dark and awfully gloomy. As soon as we had

Y

322 ADVENTURES OF

drifted astern, we picked up two men, who had saved
themselves by holding on the drifting spars, which were
towing astern. We saved two others, floating near them.
Then, after hallooing, and pulling about in the direction
where the squall had struck us, in search of the man-of-
war's-man, my second mate, and the Swedish boy, both of
whom were certainly missing, and how many more we
knew not, till we ourselves were in danger of losing our
vessel, we were compelled to return.

Wind and rain succeeded, and the night looked horrible.
It was with infinite toil we neared, and at last got under
the lee of the vessel, drifting rapidly out to sea. As the
boat shot up under her quarter, not being fended off, while
the men were scrambling to get on board the schooner, she
gave a heavy lurch, swamped the boat, and left me, with
six others, floating on the sea. I struck out to keep clear
of any one's catching hold of me. Curses and screams
were mingled. As we fell into the wake of the schooner,
shooting from us, I heard the men in her crowding aft,
and throwing ropes, none of which reached us, and calling
to us to lay hold of the wrecked spars, but they were lying
out of our grasp, foul of the bottom of the schooner, and
to windward, the ship then drifting bodily to leeward. I
called out distinctly, " A rope, or we are lost ! " for I knew
that our only remaining boat could not be got out. I
thought my hour was come, when I perceived something
white on board the schooner, and heard a voice which
thrilled through my frame, and arose above the wind, the
sea, and the cries of the drowning. It exclaimed, " There
is a rope ! Oh, God ! give it him, or take me ! " The ex-
treme bite of a small white rope fell almost in my hand; it
was clutched ; so unerring was the eye that directed, and
the hand, heart-impelled, that cast it. Zela, that hand
was thine ! Thy little arm and tiny hand at that moment
possessed more strength than the sturdiest seaman's, and
saved five lives which could not have been preserved five
minutes later.

I can hardly see the paper I write on ! The long lapse
of years which have passed since that time, appear but as
minutes, so vividly is that overwhelming instant graven on

A YOUNGER SON. 323

my heart. And oh, blessed angel! have you not since,
hovering over me in battle, preserved me when I have
wildly rushed on death (for why should I fear or shun
what is ?) to reunite myself to you ? And have you not,
protecting spririt ! turned aside the cowardly assassin's balls
directed at the heart consecrated to you, and guided them
through my body, balmed the wounds, mortal to human
remedies, unclenched the gripe of death when I have felt
his icy fingers in my breast, and restored me to health by
most miraculous means ?

CHAPTER XLI.

Angela the old
Died palsy twitch'd, with meagre face deform. Keats.

But, slave of my feelings, I must go back to my narrative.
Zela, who had not left the deck (indeed she never did, but
on compulsion, when I was in danger), witnessed the
whole calamity. She was, as I have said, of a fearless
race, and her fragile form contained a spirit almost un-
earthly. She had pointed to the sailors on board — for
the eye of love pierces through the darkest night — where
to throw the ropes ; but, not relying on them, she seized
on the deep- sea-lead-line, which luckily had no lead bent
to it, and unreeling a long coil, she ran out on the foot-
ropes of the main-boom. The man swore she ran on it
like a spirit. When at the extreme end, she was directed
by my voice, and threw the coil of line in her hand with
all her strength. Fearing it might not reach me, she had
fastened the other end, purposing, in that event, to jump
into the sea to bring it me ; but finding that I had it, she
threw the end on board. Four out of the six men with
me grappled and got hold of it. Being not much thicker
than whip-cord, it was miraculous that it held us ; but the
schooner was now getting stern- way on her, so that, other
ropes being thrown, our safety was insured. Two men
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324 ADVENTURES OF

either entangled in the ropes of the boat, or not being able
to swim (and it is a fact that very few sailors can swim),
never rose after the boat was stove.

Zela rushed into my arms, but spoke not a word. Her
lips were cold as ice. I seated her down by the Malay
girl on the hatchway. " Oh, God ! " I cried, as her in-
animate form was upheld by the girl, " she is dead ! "

Then the old paramana, Kamalia, who was bedridden
in the cabin, called out —

« No ! — Death is indeed come : but not yet for her.
When next he comes, the noble tribe of Beni-Bedar-
K'urcish, which is coeval with the sands, is extinct for
ever ! When the destroying salt wave reaches the root of
the date-tree of the desert, it dies, and its fruits and leaves
die too. It is written so by the prophet. I ransom her
life with mine. I swore, when he took her mother, that
when he next called on the spirits of our house, he should
take old Kamalia. Blue fiend ! the prophet heard me, and
thou must obey him ! "

These words were followed by a stifling noise, as if the
poor nurse was drowning. As I knew the cabin had been
fall of water, though I had forgotten her, I called for a
lantern, and ordered the Malay girl and two of the men
to go down and bring the old woman, who had been
rapidly declining in strength, on deck. There was not a
dry rag on board ; I could only press Zela to my bosom,
which was but an icy pillow, and breathe on her eyes ; yet
I thought I felt symptoms of returning life. The men
called out from below that the old nurse was dead, stiff,
and cold as a stone !

The water being cleared out of the cabin, I carried Zela
down, and, when I saw she lived, left her in the Malay
girl's lap, and hastened on deck. We had enough, in
clearing the wreck, to occupy our hands and minds till day-
light, without inquiries into the number of men we had
lost. The Malay girl's screams recalled me into the cabin.
I found Zela in what I then believed the convulsions of j
death. She writhed for a long time in extreme agony, and f
pain seemed to have restored her senses. Before the
morning her struggles ceased. She had been seized with

A YOUNGER SON. 325

premature labour, and brought a dead child into the world.
But I was happy, for she lived, I forced her to drink
some strong hot brandy and water, and she fell into a deep
and tranquil sleep. Her before cold and pallid brow be-
came warm and moist, and at that moment she looked so
exquisitely beautiful, that I gazed on her, spell-bound, still
throbbing with agitation in reflecting how nearly I had lost
her, and determining in my own mind that henceforth 1
would cherish her with tenfold care.

Fearful, when she awoke, that she might hear of Ka-
mahVs death, and perhaps see her body, I went to the
place where the faithful and good old creature lay. I held
the lantern to her face : it had undergone no change ; a
mummy that I had seen at the Isle of France, of Cleopatra's
era, nearly two thousand years entombed, looked not more
antique than old Kamalia, and it bore as much appearance
of animal moisture and flesh and blood as did her shrivelled,
withered, and dried-up remains. The worms were de-
frauded of their prey. Her livid blue skin covered nothing
but dry and sapless bones : a pale crimson streak, the last
small drop of blood, stained a vein on her temple ; a little
tuft of grey hair, like hoary moss on a withered tree, or
as if a spider had spun his web on her skull, alone shel-
tered the bare bone : her arms and body were rigid to
brittleness. Wrapping her remains in her own barakan, I
lifted the body, and conveyed it to a separate cabin. She
weighed no more than a bundle of rushes. I closed her
stony eye and skinny mouth.

Daylight was approaching ; a man called out, ec Breakers
a-head!" — yet we had no soundings. Spite of her crip-
pled state, the schooner, on which we had now some can-
vass, went round them, when we saw the surf breaking on
the sunken rocks. As the day dawned, the weather resumed
its previous tranquillity: the sun arose in all its bright-
ness ; a vapoury veil of mist hung over the now distant
low line of shore from which we had been driven, as if the
hurricane, like an eagle descending to its nest, was sinking
to repose in its own desolate region, the abode of everlast-
ing rain and tempests. This vast and dreary swamp, ex-
tending deep into the island, occupies more than a hundred
y 3

S26 ADVENTURES OF

miles along the shore,, and is exactly under the equator.
We had cause to be thankful we were driven, though a
a wreck, from it, instead of being wrecked on it. The
builder would not have recognised the schooner. The
Zaoo Prince would not have exchanged his rotten and
worthless bark for our now less safe-looking vessel. Bat-
tered^ dismasted^, and broken, we lay a complete wreck on
the waters, at the mercy of waves and winds which we
should have laughed at the day before. Our plunder, and
great part of our provisions, were damaged.

Giving the necessary directions, and leaving the deck in
charge of the mate, I went to my cabin, after having
mustered the crew. We had lost the second mate, the
steward, the Swedish boy, and seven men.

I found Zela still asleep, and, putting chairs by the side
of her couch, I placed my arms around her waist, pressed
, er gently to my breast, and fell into a deep sleep. I
dreamed of undergoing every kind of horrible death ; of
being torn to pieces by sharks, by tigers, — of suffocation
by drowning, and of my skull being cracked and crushed
like a nut between the huge jaws of a crocodile. In my
struggles to escape, I capsised the chairs, and fell heavily
on the deck of the cabin, dragging Zela with me. In
terror she asked what was the matter ! The perspiration
was pouring down my brow : she wiped my face, and,
kissing my lips, said, e( You were dreaming, dearest ; and I
was trying to waken you, for your sleep seemed dreadful/"

It was some time ere I recollected where I was, and
could recall the events of the night. Then, overjoyed to
find Zela recovered, I kissed her a thousand times, and
shook off my heavy drowsiness and sickness with cold
water and coffee.

Retarded by light winds and want of canvass, we were
four or five days reaching our destined port. Finding De
Ruyter there with two prizes, our sufferings were instantly
forgotten, and we brought to, under the grab's stern, sing-
ing and cheering, as if we had returned from a most pro-
sperous voyage ; so completely can a ray of joy dispel the
remembrance of the longest and dreariest sufferings.

De Ruyter hastened on board, not knowing what to

A YOUNGER SON. 32?

think, beholding our crippled and weather-beaten appear-
ance. " Halloo, my lads I" he said, as he came alongside,
<f have you cruized to the north pole, and been locked up
in an iceberg for a hundred years ? "

" No," I answered, " we have merely turned the
schooner into a diving-bell, or torpedo, to cruize under
water."

" What has happened ? " he said, as, standing on deck,
his keen eye glanced over the tempest- stricken wreck ;
(e you have been battling with the simoom ! No human
engines could have done this. Ha ! and I miss some
familiar faces ! " For De Ruyter had the gift, which kings
are said to have, of never forgetting faces.

He came wondering down in our cabin, and I told him
our disastrous history. " Well ! " he added, cc you have had
a miraculous escape. It cannot be helped. We must do
the best we can to set you to rights again. I hope you are
all right under water. We have spars enough here ; and
I can make a shift to supply you with rope and canvass.
I have been more successful, among a convoy of coasting
craft in the Straits of Sunda. We dismasted a lubberly
Company's cruizer, and took two of her convoy, charged
with naval and military stores and provisions, run them
into Java, where we sold them and their cargoes to ad-
vantage. Since which we have picked up two private
traders on our way hither ; one loaded for Macoa with cases
of opium, better than dollars, for the markets are high ;
and the other with oil, coffee, sugar- candy, and sundries.
You see them both in the port. Besides which, I have
done some service to the people here, Beajus, or wild men,
as they are called by the Moors, for which they have made
me king of the island. Here am I, King Prospero, with
a thousand Calibans for my subjects ! See, now they are
bringing wood and water ; and they have shown me —

*5 All the qualities o* the isle
The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place, and fertile."

. c< What can you mean ?M I inquired.
' ' Near the uninhabited Tamboe islands, I was surprised
at discovering a fleet of proas. Taking them to be pirates,
y 4

S28 ADVENTURES OF

I ran in amongst them. They were lying close to the
shore,, and most of their crews escaped. Some got under
way, and attempted to get out ; but, with the exception
of two or three, I compelled them to return ; when their
crews also jumped overboard, and swam on shore. I
boarded their boats, and found, as I had predicted, they
were Malayan and Moorish pirates. They had been to the
south-east side of Borneo, where they surprised the natives;
who, as their country is swamped during the rainy season,
and for some time after, live in floating houses, which are
moored to trees. They could not escape, for these fellows
went alongside of them in their shallops, and made pri-
soners of them, their wives and children, who could neither
fight nor fly. Then, with their living cargo, they put to
sea, and had run into the Tamboe islands for water and
provisions ; when I happily, in turn, and as unexpectedly,
suprised them, and released the captives, of whom I found
nearly two hundred in the different proas. These proas I
placed in their possession, brought them here, and landed
my Beajus near their own country."

I must observe, that we were now anchored in a port on
the south of the island of Borneo, in a bay formed by
three very small islands, which were not inhabited, nor
indeed habitable, the largest being less than a mile in cir-
cumference, and having a scanty supply of water. The
channel between us and the main was scarcely a mile broad,
and the passage blocked by an extensive shoal, on which
the sea was always in an agitated state, and generally
breaking. The grab lay completely land-locked ; I had
been beating about some days ere I could discover the place,
although De Ruyter had been most particular in laying it
down, with written and minute directions.

To add to the calamities of the schooner, many of our
men had been suddenly seized with putrid fever and dy-
sentery, attributed to the pestilential atmosphere on the
night when we were anchored off the fatal shore of the
morass. Some died within four and twenty hours after
they were attacked; and the instant their last struggles
were over, we were compelled to throw their bodies into
the sea, to be rid of the stench exhaling from them, which

A YOUxSTGER SON. 329

was insufferable before they died. And all these misfor-
tunes were imputed to having begun our voyage on a
Friday ! Every individual in the schooner firmly believed
in thisj except myself. But superstitions believed in, are,,
in their effects., truths ; therefore I never went to sea again
on a Friday.

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

330 ADVENTURES OP

VOLUME THE THIRD.

CHAPTER I.

A long, long kiss, a kiss of youth, and love,

And beauty, all concentrating like rays
Into one focus, kindled from above ;

Such kisses as belong to early days,
When heart, and soul, and sense, in concert move,

And the blood's lava, and the pulse a blaze ;
Each kiss a heart-quake ; — for a kiss's strength,
I think it must be reckon'd by its length. Byron

The Beajus are supposed to be part of the aborigines of
the immense island of Borneo. They have been driven to
the interior, which is composed of hills and huge moun-
tains,, dark, rugged, and precipitous. A chain of these
mountains approached that part of the island off which
we lay ; and stretching their roots, as it were, far out into
the sea, rendered the approach dangerous. Had it not been
for the little islands, like excrescences or suckers from the
roots, which sheltered us, we could have found no an-
chorage there, nor within many leagues. The sea lies on
both sides, without port or pasturage, while the immense
morass and high mountains form a barrier inland; so that,
with the exception of occasional marauders pillaging in
proas a few scattered villages on a plain bordering on the
morass, the Beajus here live undisturbed, in consideration
of a tribute paid to a Malay settlement on the western
coast. Left to be governed by their own chiefs, they live
in patriarchal simplicity. Hunting and fishing are their
principal occupations ; nevertheless they have a sufficient
quantity of rice, Indian corn, and some other grain, with
abundance of fruits, roots, and herbs. The rainy season
begins in April, and continues for more than half the year ;

A YOUNGER SON. 331

and on the great morass, the boundary of their territory, it
rains for ever, with frightful storms, thunder and lightning.
Nothing living dares to enter, except wild beasts, which
sometimes prowl thither. It was called the land of the
destroying power, and believed to be peopled by demons,
who there prepared all the evils in the world, and then
directed their flight with them whither they listed. To
assuage the wrath of these destroyers, the Beajus made
sacrifices and offerings. They believed in a good and
greater power, but, as he never did harm, they did not
attempt to bribe him with offerings, or invoke his clemency.
Their chiefs were elected by the old people. Every head
of a family was despotic, and answerable for those belong-
ing to him. Only for great crimes they were cited before
a general assembly ; and adultery, in either party, was con-
sidered the most heinous, and punished with death.

The good office De Ruyter had done these people was
not forgotten. Their gratitude knew no limit. The two
hundred whom he had liberated considered themselves his
bond-slaves, doing him every service in their power, and
rejecting payment. Some of them were continually along-
side, and on board us, supplying fruits, fish, goats, poultry,
and what else their country produced. They erected con-
venient huts on the largest of the islands, for our sick and
maimed, which were numerous in both vessels, under the
superintendence of Scolpvelt, who always took care to be
well supplied with medicines. Besides, he was a herbalist
himself, and devoted his leisure hours to prowling about
in search of herbs and plants, to distilling, making decoc-
tions, and gathering balsams and gums, for which Borneo
is famous. One of the Beajus' canoes was at his command,
with which he made daily excursions on the coast.

For some time I was exclusively occupied in refitting
the schooner ; for which purpose I searched the woods, in
the country of the Malays, for spars. The difficulty
was in procuring those which possessed the requisite
qualities of lightness, strength, and elasticity; for, as to
timber, there was enough to build fleets. One day, having
pulled far along the coast, I landed in a small creek,
within a little valley, inaccessible on the land side, owing

332 ADVENTURES OF

to an abrupt mountain, and the number of very high trees,
undergrown with jungle ; while the bushes and canes were
so woven together by enormous creepers, that it seemed as
if nothing larger than a rat could pass. But seeing some
pines, or a species of fir, which struck me would answer
my purpose, provided I could arrive at them, I landed with
Zela, and sent the boat on board to bring the carpenters
with their tools. Although the schooner lay at some
distance, the boat had a leading wind both ways, and,
as she sailed remarkably well, I calculated she would
return in three hours.

In the mean time we first examined the spot, to find
an outlet, but in vain. We then strolled on the margin
of the sea, in the small space which was open, gathering
oysters and muscles ; for abutments of overhanging rocks,
impossible to climb, shut us in on both sides. While
Zela was preparing coffee, I lay on the rocks, lulled by
the monotonous waves, the crowing of the jungle cock,
and the distant voice of the faoo, screaming shrilly in
complaining notes. All who have mingled in the busy
turmoil of life have felt the exquisite luxury, for there is
none like it in the world's enjoyments, the balmy sensation
while reposing alone, or, doubly sweet, with one loved
companion, in a sheltered and secluded nook. There we
can unpack the burthen with which our hearts are loaded,
by thinking alone, secure from observing eyes, unmocked
by triumphant pity, or sneering self-conceited friends, —
those officious prophets who foresee our misfortunes, warn
us to avoid what is inevitable, and abandon us on finding
them irremediable, salving their consciences with, " Well !
he rejected our counsel, and must take the consequences of
his headstrong proceedings !'*

Having finished our coffee, Zela laid her head on my
arm, and pointed out a white speck on the waters, which
she said was a canoe, and I contended it was our boat.
We were betting which it would turn out to be. But,
that I may not be accused thus early of a propensity for
gambling, I must record that our stakes were only kisses ;
so that, whichever it was, boat or canoe, it only made the
difference between giving and receiving,- — yet a very

A YOUNGER SON. 333

great and important distinction there is between giving and
receiving. Having been accounted learned and proficient
in this abstruse branch of study, my opinion on this con-
troverted question may be pronounced decisive. Certainly
I was indefatigable in my application to the mystery ; and
had I followed mathematics or astronomy instead of kissing,
(not that their utility to mankind admits a comparison,)
Sir Isaac Newton and Napier would have been considered
but as pioneers in science, clearing the path for my
superior genius. Some curious arithmetician has demon-
strated that a man, taking snuff once in ten minutes during
the day, for the space of thirty years, will have been four
years perpetually snuffing. Not only did I kiss every ten
minutes during the day, but all night long, sleeping not to
be subtracted; so that more than half of my early life was
dedicated to what I then thought the only thing very well
worth doing, without grudging or grumbling, purely from
instinct. I therefore, declaring it was our boat, insisted
on Zela's kissing me ; but, on nearing us, we perceived it
was Van's canoe : upon which I was about to pay her
kisses back again, when I heard a rustling among the
jungle, and prepared my carbine, being concealed by a
projection of rock. The faoo came nigher to us, and Zela
whispered, "Be cautious, — it is a tiger! for that bird
always gives notice of his approach."

CHAPTER II.

Upon a weeded rock this old man sat,
And his white hair was awful, and a mat
Of weeds were cold beneath hig cold thin feet
*****

Then up he rose, like one whose tedious toil

Had watched for years in forlorn hermitage. Keats.

I put a ball, over the large shot, in my carbine, and
making a rest on the rocks for my gun, I determined not
to fire till he attacked us ; then, if I missed killing him, we

334 ADVENTURES OF

were to swim out to the boat, which was rapidly approach-
ing. Still, as we were hidden, I hoped we should escape
undiscovered. Taking my cap off, I peeped over the
rock ; the rustling noise in the bushes continued ; when,
to my astonishment, I saw, not a tiger, but a grey, hairy
old man. He removed the bushes, and, after cautiously
surveying the place, stooped down, and came out at the
opening of the little creek. I was about to rise, but Zela
held me down, and signed to me not to move or speak.
When he stood up he was the strangest looking figure I
had ever seen, tall, — lean, and emaciated, not at all re-
sembling any people within my knowledge. He was
remarkably long-limbed, and had no other weapon than a
large club, such as is used by the South Sea Islanders.
His face was black, with grisly hair, and deeply furrowed
with wrinkles. His figure seemed bent with age and
infirmities, yet he walked with long strides over the rough
ground. There was a wild and sullen malignity of ex-
pression in his eyes, more like those of a demon than of
a man. When he came to the margin of the sea, in an
opposite direction to us, he seated himself on a rock, took
up a sharp stone, knocked off the limpets and muscles,
and swallowed them fast and voraciously. After this he
gathered a large leaf, put a heap of oysters and muscles on
it, and folded it up. Then, looking towards the sea, with
his eyes fixed for some time on the boat, he washed his
hand, and returned, somewhat more nimbly, to the place
whence he had issued, and disappeared.

" I'll follow him ! M I cried, and jumped up.

Zela urged me to forbear ; " For," said she, " he is a
jungle admee, more dangerous, cunning, and cruel than any
wild beast."

" He is alone," I replied, " and surely I am a match
for him. Besides, I shall find a path which will be
useful."

Saying this, I went after him, and discovered, upon
crawling under the thick kantak bush, a narrow winding
path, a good deal foot-worn. I heard the grisled old
savage before me ; and, unseen myself, from time to time
caught glimpses of him. Several branches of trees, under

A YOUNGER SON. 335

which he could not pass without stooping, he beat down,,
or broke off with a blow of his club. Zela, who could not
be induced to stay, followed close at my heels. We
tracked him for a short distance through the wood in
silence. He then branched off to the right, in the direc-
tion of the great morass, passed the channel of a mountain
stream, ascended a bank, and then, coming to a rock
fifteen or sixteen feet in perpendicular height, he climbed
up an old moss-grown pine-tree. When he had mounted
the stem of the tree somewhat higher than the rock, he
clung with his arms and legs to a horizontal branch ; and,
as a sailor works himself along the stays of a mast, by
alternately shifting his limbs, he arrived above the summit
of the rock, when, suspending his body by his hands, he
let himself gently down, and walked on.

We followed in the same manner, cautiously avoiding
his seeing or hearing us. He crossed a ridge of rocks,
comparatively open. It was here grew the pine-trees that
I wanted. There was little or no underwood. The old
man stopped, and looking attentively at a huge pine which
had fallen from age, out of which, in its half-decomposed
prostrate trunk, grew a line of young pines, thus per-
petuating its species, he appeared to be measuring their
length with a stick. He pulled up four of them by the
roots, stripped them of their branches, secured them to-
gether with a fillet of wire- grass, put them on his left
shoulder, and proceeded onwards to a small space in which
were the wild mango and ben ana. He examined the fruit
of them, and smelt them to find if they were ripe; and
gathering a plantain, which did not readily peel, he threw
it away. He now made many turns : we followed him as
close as we could without risking discovery, till he came
to an open piece of ground which had been neatly levelled,
the grass, weeds, and bushes cleared away, and in one
corner, under the shelter of a remarkably thick and beauti-
ful tree covered with white blossoms, I observed a neat hut,
built of canes wattled together. I looked round with ad-
miration, marvelling at the good taste with which the re-
cluse had selected a place for his hermitage. On one side
was a rocky bank, covered with tamarind and wild nut-

336

ADVENTURES OF

meg, perfuming the air. There was an excavation in the
lower part of the bank, partially screened by three tall,
straight-stemmed betel-trees, with their shining, silvery-
white bark ; they shone resplendently beautiful, and looked
like the graces of the forest. At the back of the hermitage
was a wild waste of jungle, in which I distinguished tama-
rind, nutmeg, cactus, acacia, banyans, toon, and the dark
foliage of the bamboo.

The old savage, having laid the bundle of young fir-
trees against his dwelling, stooped down and entered the
low door on his hands and knees ; for the palmetta-leaved
roof came down to within two feet of the ground. While
I was attentively surveying and marking the spot, deter-
mined on visiting it again, and endeavouring to look into
the hut, under cover of a thick bush on the margin of the
cleared space, a rustle among the bushes made me turn my
eyes to the ground, when I saw the diamond-like eye,
sparkling from the black square head of a cobra-di-capeila.
It was crossing the path immediately where Zela stood,
and seemed to have stopped to gaze at her. Forgetting
everything but her danger, I shouted out, and caught her
up in my arms. The snake, without appearing alarmed,
slowly retreated into the opposite bushes. Zela exclaimed,
(e Oh ! jungle admeel"

Placing her down, I turned round, and was startled at
seeing him advance with his club firmly clenched in both
hands, and swinging over his head, like a quarter-staff.
The gaunt old wretch, by the increased malignancy of his
eye, the grinding of his teeth, and the wrinkles on his
narrow brow, was evidently proceeding to attack me. My
carbine, cocked, was in my left hand, but ere I could get
it to my shoulder, he made one huge stride, and his club
was descending on my head, when, stepping a pace back,
I discharged my piece under his left armpit, lodging the
whole contents in his body. He sprung up into the air,
and, before I could retire, fell slap upon me. I thought,
as I fell prostrate, that the brute would certainly finish me,
and called out to Zela to run to the boat and save herself;
but she was forcing a boar- spear into his side, and an-
swered, " He is quite dead ; he don't move ; get up ! "

A YOUNGER SON. 337

With some difficulty I extricated myself, and saw that
my ball had passed right through him, entering his heart,
as I suppose, which had caused that convulsive spring.
He bled profusely.

We then went into his house. It differed little in the
interior from those of the other natives of the island, only
it had a greater degree of neatness and appearance of com-
fort. At one end of it was a partition, very ingeniously
fastened, as a security, I conjectured, against thieves when
he was absent. There was good store of roots and fruits,
carefully spread out to prevent their rotting. It might
have been mistaken for the abode of a mongrel Scotch
philosopher.

Hearing musquets discharged, and voices hallooing, I
was surprised at finding we were much nearer the sea than
I had anticipated ; but on retracing our steps, I accounted
for it, by the circuitous path the jungle admee had taken
us to his abode. We hastened back to the beach, and
found Van and his canoe. He had been directed to the
spot by the ^nen of our boat, which was now drawing
nigh, induced to come from what they said of it ; then,
alarmed at not seeing us, together with the report of my
carbine, he ordered musquets to be fired,

" Well met, Van I" said I; c c here I have procured you
a magnificent subject to work upon." I then told him of
my encounter with the wild man.

" Where is he ? " exclaimed Van.

As I led him to the spot, he eagerly followed close at
my heels, and, when he approached the body, cried out,
" What ! that ? Why, that is not one of the order Bimana,
— of the genus homo , or man ; but of the second order>
Quadrumana, — one of the tribe of Simece, — apes, mon-
keys, baboons ; — narrow pelvis, lengthened falx, long
arms, short thumbs, flat buttocks. This,1" continued Van,
as he turned him over, " is an orang-outang ; the first
fulLgrown one I ever saw, and really very like the genus
homo. But feel— he has thirteen ribs. There is little
other distinction between him and you : Buffon says they
have no sentiment of religion, and what have you ? they
are as brave and fierce as you are ; and are very ingenious
z

S3S ADVENTURES OF

which you are not. Besides, they are a reflective and con-
siderate set of beings, and have the best government in
the world : they divide a country into districts ; are never
guilty of invasion ; and never infringe on the rights of
others. All this is because they have no priests, kings, or
aristocrats. They are ruled by democratic chiefs, go about
in bodies, build houses, and live well. This one has been
refractory — a heavy sinner; and see, he is diseased, has
ulcers and a goitre on his throat. — There are also many
wounds on his body ; — yes, he has been refractory, and
doubtless banished from the community of his fellow-
creatures. 1 11 preserve his skeleton, and present it to the
chemical college at Amsterdam. It is a rare species."

Leaving Van to work on the orang-outang we, went to
examine the timber, and cleared a path to the beach. At
sunset we returned to our boats, as the place was declared
by the natives to be infested by tigers and serpents.

CHAPTER III.

Millions there lift, at Freedom's thrilling call,

Ten thousand standards wide , they load the blast,

Which bears one sound of many voices past,

And startles on his throne their scepter'd foe. Skelle\.

Both natives and individuals, possessing qualities most
particularly to be admired, I have remarked are most ge-
nerally hated and abused. The mass are exclusively occu-
pied in loving and benefiting themselves, in slandering
the characters of others, and extracting something from
their wealth. All who are ambitious of their good word,
must lie to them, fool with them, and do with them
homage : —

" Desert does nothing ; valiant, wise, and virtuous,
Are things that walk by without bread or breeches."

The Malays, scattered about on the sea-coast of India,
and its finest islands, are, by the general voice, pronounced

A YOUNGER SON. 339

to be the most fierce, treacherous, ignorant, and inflexible
of barbarians ; —

" Which any print of goodness will not take,
Being capable of all ill."

De Ruyter, who had no faith in public clamour, and
was never biassed by the opinions of others, when it. was
possible to judge for himself, soon set me right in regard
to the character of this much abused poepie. I found he
did them but justice in saying they were true to their
words, generous to prodigality, and of invincible courage.
All the attempts of European and Indian kings to subdue
this people have failed. If any portion of their country
is wrung from them by superior force, with spirits unsub-
dued they abandon it, maintaining their unconquerable
love of personal freedom, and gain a footing by conquest
in neighbouring states or islands. On the coast of Malabar,
and the three great Sunda islands, they are the most
numerous. They are the only people in India who have
preserved their national character and liberty amidsc con-
tending powers ; and it arises from their love of liberty
being greater than their love of any particular spot of
earth which has chanced to be their birthplace. There,
wrhere they can be free, be it rock or sandy waste, is their
country. They are simple in their wants, hardy, brave,
and adventurous : such a race can find few parts of the
world where they will not contrive to exist. Like the
cocoa-nut, they are never far from the sea ; and, like the
Arabs, they are not over-scrupulous in appropriating
the superfluities of wealthy strangers to their own uses.
Who that lives in want does not desire to supply himself
from the rich ? — cowards beg, the cunning pilfer, a brave
man takes by force. The wealth of India and Asia, ob-
tained by force and stratagem, is conveyed along the shores
of the Malays towards Europe ; and they would be the
most besotted of barbarians, if they did not help them-
selves to a portion of it. They do so ; and though they
have been pursued, massacred by thousands, their country
ravaged, their vessels destroyed, yet their numbers aug-
ment, and their piracies, as they are called, increase instead
of being diminished; for their war-canoes are widely spread
z 2

340 ADVENTURES OF

over the Indian Ocean. They have several settlements on
the western shore of Borneo, which lies very conveniently
for marauding on the Chinese trade. Portuguese, Dutch,
English, and others have, from time to time, formed set-
tlements on various parts of the island, the King of Borneo
protecting them the while, as the industrious bee is pro-
tected ; but when they had established a factory, and filled
it with treasures, they were smoked out, and plundered.
They are now abandoned to their fate by church mis-
sionary and merchant militant, the island having no roads,
few ports, and plenty of swamps, jungle, rivers, and
mountains.

The Moorish king, who resides at the capital of the
island, Borneo Proper, has neither command nor influence
beyond his own province. Chinese, Macassars, Javanese,
and adventurers from many other lands, have also esta-
blished themselves there, and live independently; while the
Chinese have monopolised most of the trade of the island.
To return to my friends, the Malays ; — - a settlement of
these neighboured the part of the coast where we were
lying; and, as De Ruyter was partial to them, having many
of that nation in his vessel, we were soon on the best
terms; for we were weary of the Beajus, a far inferior
race.

A Malay chieftain was frequently with us ; and, on our
expressing a wish for a tiger hunt, he willingly assented,
though it is not common with them to seek tigers for sport,
as they merely attack them in their own defence, or to
preserve their property. For this sport I had long been
eager ; and, being now in a country in which they most
abounded, I could hardly restrain my impatience.

I must observe that, while we were lying here, De
Ruyter occasionally got the grab under weigh, and went
out to see if he could pick, up any thing, or gain intelli-
gence of any thing at sea. Meantime our repairs on board
the schooner (thanks to my friend the orang) proceeded
rapidly, as I had found spars. We sometimes made
hunting parties on shore, to kill deer, wild hogs, goats,
and, at times, buffaloes, in order to supply our vessels with
fresh meat, and not to infringe on our sea-stock. Besides

A YOUNGER SOX. 341

which, there was an abundance of fine fish on the coast ;
a party of men was every day sent to haul the scan — so
that we lived well and free of expense. Rice, coffee,
tobacco, Indian com, and other grains, we procured, by
barter, from the natives. De Ruyter's intention was to
await the sailing of the China fleet homeward bound, and,
if possible, to attack them.

Having time on our hands, we were anxious to see the
interior of the island. We had heard the natives fre-
quently talk of the ruins of an ancient city, skirting the
great morass, and that it was the abode of tigers and other
wild beasts. An excursion to that place was quickly
planned. We always kept our vessels in the best order,
and omitted no precaution against surprise, by sea or land.
In general, either he or I remained in charge of the vessels.
On the island, where we had landed our sick, we had
mounted two guns and built a battery, which commanded
the schooner. All our men were kept constantly employed.
Discontent, drunken brawls, and, sometimes, quarrels with
the natives, gave us considerable vexation. But De Ruyter
was better qualified than any man in the world for the
service in which he was engaged j for, either by lenity, or
by severe and summary punishment, he overawed the re-
fractory, and tranquillised the discontented. He had a
quick eye to see into the characters of men, and he em-
ployed great art in controlling them ; a portion of which
I acquired.

We now made preparations for our tiger hunt. The
Malay chieftain was to accompany us, with a party of his
followers ; and he engaged to supply us with elephants.
De Ruyter took twenty of the most un tractable of his
crew, well armed ; and a few picked men out of the
schooner.

zS

342 ADVENTURES OP

CHAPTER IV

1 saw a fury whetting a death-dart. Keats.

Around, around, in ceaseless circles wheeling,

With clang of wings and scream, the eagle sail'd

Incessantly, sometimes on high concealing

Its lessening orbs, sometimes, as if it fail'd,

Droop'd through the air ; and still it shriek'd and wail'd,

And, casting back its eager head, with beak

And talon unremittingly assail'd

The wreathed serpent, who did ever seek

Upon his enemy's heart a mortal wound to wreak. Shelley.

There is more of the spirit of chivalry among the Malays
than among any other people. They are devoted to war,
and to its inseparable accompaniment, women ; these, with
hawking and cock-fighting, formed the principal recre-
ations of our Malay chieftain. One of the peculiarities
of his character was a punctilious observance of the
Malayan code of retaliation, surpassing the Jewish law of
iC an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth/' Indeed, I
doubt whether any thing in the records of the most heroic
periods of chivalry, when crazy red- cross-knights ran tilting
among the Saracens, dyeing their yellow sands red, can com-
pete with our Hotspur of the East. In one of his voyages
he touched at Batavia, to dispose of a cargo, when under the
government of the Dutch, who are particular about the
cleanliness of their houses, but as careless as the Scotch
in their persons and habits. A Hollander, in his arm-
chair, with a yard of baked clay, well saturated with the
essential oil of tobacco, and filled with No. 11. canastre,
with a pottle of smoky Schiedam, experiences all he can
imagine of paradise ; and ever careful to avoid polluting
his dwelling, spits into the street. An unlucky delivery
of this sort, out of the window of a Dutch house, fell, not
refreshing as the dew of heaven, on the face of our chief-
tain as he passed under the dwelling. He sought in vain
the source whence his defilement sprung, " and passion
having his best judgment coilied,,, he drew his creese, and
ran a-muck through the streets, attacking all he met.
Many a bayonet of a Dutch sepoy let him blood ; the

A YOUNGER SON. S4S

garrison was in arms ; when, after stabbing fifteen or
sixteen persons, he threw himself into the sea, regained
his proa, and escaped.

Another time a vessel from Bombay had anchored off
the coast where his father was chieftain, who bartered
with its owner the produce of the country for Birmingham
musquets, warranted to endure for ever, hatchets, adzes,
and other tools. Ere the vessel sailed, one of the mus-
quets, on the first discharge, burst in his father's hands,
and a piece of the barrel, entering his brain, killed him.
His dutiful son called together the immediate followers of
his father's house, boarded the vessed in the night, and
succeeded in taking possession of her ; when, with his
own hand, and his father's knife, he severed the heads
from every individual of the crew, made a funeral pile,
placed his father's body on it, bedecked with a triple
crown of thirty heads, and fired it.

To one of the feats I was witness, on his first day of
our march. A brutal follower, a Tiroon, acting as mahout
(conductor) to the little elephant on which Zela was seated,
while in the rear of the party, made a sign to the sagacious
beast, as he was passing a wretched man, who came out
of the ruins of a tank to beg, to kill hirn, The elephant
did so. I was talking to the chieftain, when Zela's voice
made me turn round. She pointed to the object, which I
had not before observed ; it was a foul and hideous leper,
the body perforated thick as a honeycomb with ulcers, so
bloated, swollen, and plastered with leaves and filthy rags,
that it bore no resemblance to a human being, with the
exception of the face, the lineaments of which were spread
by the fell disease, and showed that he was thus struck and
blasted in the dawn of manhood.

The Tiroon mahout was of a race who delighted in
shedding blood. They make sacrifices to their gods, and
to the ladies of their love. No Tiroon can marry until he
has presented his bride with a gory head, no matter whose,
friend's or foe's, taken in battle, or pilfered from a sleep-
ing guest : a head must be the first gift. A fiery lover
who presents a bouquet of heads to a blushing fair one is
not to be resisted. I suppose this to be a natural feeling
z 4

344< ADVENTURES OF

among gentle women, as it is a general one, from the
Roman ladies who viewed in ecstasy the wounds and
agonies of expiring gladiators, to our modern fair ones,
who are always to be won by fighting.

But to return to my friend the chieftain. As soon as
he was made acquainted with the wanton murder com-
mitted by the Tiroon on the outcast and despised leper,
he seized on a mahout's stick, and began beating him with
it. The wild Tircon drew a poisoned arrow from his belt,
and attempted to stab his chastiser, who, on seeing it, be-
came infuriated. He struck the arrow from his hand,
drew his own creese, forced the fellow back against a tree,
held him there in an erect posture with his left hand, and
continually stabbed him with the weapon in his right,
even long after life was extinct. His fury was inde-
scribable ; and himself, covered with the Tiroon's blood,
glistening on his raven hair and fiery face, looked like an
avenging demon.

I said to De Ruyter, who had drawn near me, ic My
carbine must be in readiness; — the fellow is mad with
rage, and will be running a-muck here."

The chieftain, wearied with stabbing, cast the mangled
body of the Tiroon beside the leper ; then looking up to
the air, he gave a yell of delight, pointed his crimsoned
creese upwards, and exclaimed, ie There they are — Did I
not say so ? "

Looking up, I saw a long- winged haggard hawk, of th
largest species, battling with a raven, which had been
attracted by the scent of blood to the spot where we were.
His watchful foe had espied him, and taken the field
against him. The chieftain averred the hawk was the
leper's spirit, the raven the Tiroon's, and watched the
conflict with intense interest. Both, wheeling upwards,
ascended till they were scarcely distinguishable. They
looked no bigger than the motes in a sun -beam ; but the
eagle-eyed chieftain vociferated, " Now the leper is up-
permost, and is descending on the spirit of his black
assassin ! "

The hawk, having in spiral motion achieved the upper
flight, fell like a thunder-bolt on the raven, stunned him

A YOUNGER SON. 345

with the blow, clutched him in his talons, folded him in
his wings, and, the hawk undermost, they tumbled down
like a black ball, till within a short distance from the earth.
The hawk then unfolded his wings, but loosened not his
talons till close to the ground, when the force of the air,
acting on the wings, brought the hawk uppermost, and
the raven fell on the earth motionless, but, as it seemed
by his low harsh croaking, not quite dead. The chieftain
clapped his hands, went to the spot close by the dead
bodies, took up a stone, and smashed the raven's scull.
The hawk took flight, and perched triumphantly on the
top branch of a very high tree, and appeared as if awaiting
our departure to begin his feast.

Under the conduct of this fiery chieftain we had placed
ourselves. I must remark that the issue of the battle
perfectly tranquillized him ; and we resumed our march in
harmony. With the exception of these gusts of passion,
he was kind-heated, courteous, affable, and exceedingly
attentive to us his guests. He had great natural sagacity
in overcoming every difficulty which impeded us, held
his followers in complete subjection, and took every pre-
caution not to be surprised by the people through whose
districts we were passing. His instincts were exquisitely
acute from constant exercise, as the civilised are dull from
want of use. He could distinguish objects correctly ere
our eyes could reach them ; and his hearing was quicker
than a dog's. Our progress, however, was slow; the
elephants were often compelled to clear us a path through
the jungle, and we lost entire days in searching for passes
round or through the swamps, and pathless forests. There
were few signs of the abodes of man, and there was neither
corn nor culture ; but we had an ever- varying succession
of beasts and birds.

3^6 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER V.

There the large olive rains its amber store

In marble fonts ; there grain, and flower, and fruit,

Gush from the earth until the land runs o'er ;

But there too many a poison-tree has root,

And midnight listens to the lion's roar,

And long, long deserts scorch the camel's foot,

Or heaving whelm the helpless caravan,

And as the soil is, so the heart of 'man. Byron.

During the heat of the day, and in the evening, while
lying by, we practised with single ball on deer, wild hogs,
and wild peacocks, which last flew over our heads in
thousands, to seek their roosting places in the woods. On
the fifth day we drew near our sporting-ground, on the
south-east side of the island. While in this neighbour-
hood, De Ruyter cautioned us to smoke incessantly ; and
knowing its efficacy, I made Zela smoke a small hooka.
My argola was never allowed to go out ; I was mounted
on a huge dromedary, and the mahout, on the animal's
neck, carried a pot of live charcoal, and an ample sack of
tombackie. During this excursion I witnessed the ad-
mirable effects of tobacco as a preventive against fever.
All those who did not use it suffered from fever, giddiness,
vomiting, spitting of blood, and dissentery. Even those
who were not accustomed to it, and could only be induced
to occasionally smoke a cigar, had slight attacks of fever.
Chewing the weed appeared of little service. The hooka
and callian, by continually exciting the action of the lungs,
as the smoke must be drawn down to the chest, were
effectual preservatives. Then, if possible, we avoided
sleeping under trees, or near jungle. The Malays always
cut down the jungle, and set it on fire ; which both cleared
the ground, and purified the atmosphere.

We left the woods, and came to a large extent of plain,
with nothing on it but enormous reeds, grass, and nau-
seously smelling weeds, that grew as high as young fir trees,
mingled thickly with rattans. Paths had been cleared by
wild elephants, which enabled us to pass this otherwise

A YOUNGER SON. 347

impenetrable wilderness. It was bound by mountains,
forests of the most stupendous trees I had ever beheld^
and, on our right, by a low ridge of rocks, in which
direction we bent our course. From the centre of this
ridge there arose a mound of earth, like a green island ;
and the ridge of rocks branching out on each side, looked
like piers built to connect it with the mountains. On this
spacious mound were said to be the ruins of an immense
Moorish city, once called the city of kings, — but now the
city of the tigers. The plain was called the plain of the
elephants.

We followed the elephants' tracks for many a weary
mile, and saw elk-deer and other animals, but no elephants.
At last we came to the ridge of rocks., and, having ascended
them, we looked down on a black and fetid morass which
extended further than the eye could reach, and lay con-
siderably lower than the plain which we had crossed.
The green and wooded hill, to which we were bound,
was still a day's march from us. There was a terrible
gloom hanging over the black swamp : nothing grew there
but dark marsh-reeds, with high and silky tufts of sooty
black, which waved to and fro, like the nodding plumes
upon a hearse, though there was not a breath of air where
we stood. It indeed looked like the murky abode of all
evil ; and when the night came, and the land-wind arose,
and swept over it, illumined by faint, pale-blue lightning,
it seemed like a black and agitated sea beneath us. I
thought how nearly I had been cast on it, and doomed to
inevitable destruction.

After having been threatened with a locked-jaw from
tearing and tugging at a half-roasted wild peacock, I lay
down in my tent on a tiger-skin, and put my carbine
under my head, while Zela nestled by my side, and drew
a tanned elk-skin over us. I slept better than those
lodged more luxuriously, till towards morning, when I
was with difficulty awakened by Zela. Owing to the wild
and perilous life she had led from her infancy, she could
awake at the smallest noise from the deepest sleep. I
have seen her open her eyes at the musquito which I had
prevented from alighting on her brow, as it flew, humming

348 ADVENTURES OF

in anger round her head. This night she was awakened
by a rustling sound, and, seeing my legs were bare, was
about to cover them, when she perceived a large venemous
serpent move from under the skin, and leisurely crawl
over my stretched-out legs. Fortunately, I slept like
death, and felt it not. She had presence of mind, lay
leaning on her arm, held her breath, and watched its
motions by the light of the lamp, and the glowing embers
of a tire, at a little distance from the tent door, as a pre-
ventive against the foul vapours of the morass. The
serpent, attracted by the heat, had left its cold bed among
the rocks, and passed directly towards it. Had I made the
slightest motion, or had she then given the alarm, it would
have wounded me, and mortally. When it was a few
yards from the tent, she aroused me ; and the instant I
was made sensible of the danger, I jumped up, fearful
that some of the people sleeping without might be attacked.
I bade Zela awaken those on the side of the tent, and
followed the serpent, which was gliding onwards. It
heard my approach, erected its crest, and looked back at
me. My carbine was loaded with large shot, and, being
close to it, I lodged the contents under its head. A man
sleeping close to the spot, sprang up, and then fell prostrate :
I thought I had killed him.

The chieftain gave the alarm, and rushed towards me
with his followers. I pointed to the writhing monster,
struggling amidst the embers. At the report of the gun^
he had anticipated a battle of some sort ; but when he saw
what it was, he appeared disappointed, and said, " Pshaw !
it is only a chickta ? It is wrong to waste powder, and
awaken people, to kill troublesome worms ! Why, there
are thousands of them here. This is the way to kill
them ! " At which he struck his spear through its
head, and held it in the embers. The snake wound its
body round and round the shaft till its tail came near his
hand. The chieftain then unfolded it, and said, " If you
like to hold it here for ten minutes, till well roasted, you'll
find it excellent eating ! '*

When dead, he dropped it into the fire, covered it

A YOUNGER SON. 349

with the ashes, and saying, " We'll breakfast on it/'
returned with the others to their sleep.

De Ruyter, Zela, and myself, not desirous of being again
disturbed by such troublesome interlopers, sat by the fire,
and talked the night away. Our conversation, after a
while, veered round from the frightful and supernatural
aspect of the scene of our encampment, to tiger-hunting.
De Ruyter, who had a strong passion for the sport, and
had been celebrated for his exploits in the upper provinces
of India, said, —

" Tiger-hunting, as practised in India, is little better
than killing cats ; nor are there so many risks attending it
as in fox-hunting. The sportsmen, and there are gene-
rally twenty of them, with twice that number of elephants,
encaged in the houdahs, each of them having half a dozen
loaded double-barrelled guns, charged as fast by servants as
they can be fired, are perched in the same security as if on
a tree, deer-shooting. A mahout sometimes gets a scratch,
but it is the noble elephant that bears the brunt of the
battle, and every thing depends on his sagacity, courage,
and steadiness. If he won't stand, becomes frightened,
and goes off, then, indeed, the sportsman's life is in some
jeopardy ; for a mad bull, or our Malay running a-muck,
is nothing to a helpless elephant."

CHAPTER VI.

Cedars, and yews, and pines, whose tangled hair

Is matted in one solid roof of shade

By the dark ivy's twine. At noonday here

'Tis twilight, and at sunset blackest night Shelley.

The brindled lioness led forth her young.

That she might teach them how they should assuage

Their inborn thirst of blood. Ibid.

<£ Bdt hunting lions on foot," continued De Ruyter, " or
lions hunting by themselves, is a noble sight, as I once
witnessed. Unlike the crouching and dastardly tiger, they

S50 ADVENTURES OF

do not lie in ambush to suprise their prey at night, but
take the field with the dawn — drag cover, and give chase
to the first animal that breaks it, be it what it may, while
the forest trembles with their thundering voices. I had
been to meet a prince of the family of Bulmar Singh, near
Rhotuk, in the neighbourhood of which I was detained
some days, attended by a small body of followers, with
half a dozen of the little mountain-elephants, on a march
towards Kamoon, the country of the Himalaya Moun-
tains, inhabited by a wild race called Silks. We went by
secret and circuitous paths through an immense tract of
country, covered with forest trees and jungle. I never
lived so long without seeing the sun as when toiling
through that dreary world of shade. Not a ray could
have penetrated it since the creation. Even the winds,
wandering vagrants as they are, could find no entrance
there. In that everlasting twilight, great owls and vam-
pyre-bats gambolled about all day long, like swallows in
spring. The birds and beasts, which were very few,
lacked their natural dyes to distinguish them, all partaking
of the monotonous hue of the yellow, mossy, and mouldy
trees and plants. Fauns, hares, foxes, and jackals were
of a brindled gray. There were toad-stools and fungi
grouped in knots, which in colour and size so closely
resembled lions couching with their cubs, that we, know-
ing they abounded there, prepared to defend ourselves.
Parasitical creepers, gasping, like myself, for air, had
plunged their wiry roots in the deep, dingy, vegetable soil,
till their trunks swelled to the bulk of the teak tree, up
which they had climbed to redden their heads and spread
their scarlet flowers in the sun ; then, as if to monopolise
all, they extended themselves on the tops of the highest
trees, fanned by the air, and basking in sunshine. Oh, how
I envied them !

u You have seen this en a smaller scale : imagine,
then, my delight when I, accustomed from my youth to a
boundless expanse of sea and sky, left this gloomy twilight,
and burst from the belt of death — for so it is properly
named — into broad, open, unobscured light. I blinked
like the owl in the sun, shouted in ecstasy, and respired

A YOUNGER SON. 351

the free air as you did when you emerged from your
plunge off the frigate's yard-arm. The scene looked
like a lake fenced by a forest. To the east, the mountains
arose to a stupendous height : they bordered the Chinese
empire. There was a clear stream winding through this
narrow and beautiful valley. After crossing it, we came
to the bed of a mountain-torrent, deep, and of great
breadth, but at that time dry, with the exception of a few
pools of water. In the middle of this bed of gravel, in-
terspersed with pieces of rock* was a small island formed
by a rock, and enlarged by fragments which had been
brought down by the torrent, and which adhered to it in
natural arches, overgrown with moss, flowers, and shrubs.
The security of the position, added to its beauty, tempted
us to make it our place of halt and repose. I was then
young and romantic as you are, and, after passing through
the dreary gloom of the forest, thought I could have
dwelt there all my life. The night was clear and bright,
and long before it was day, I was up smoking my cailian,
and planning a shooting bungalo.

(C The transition from night to day came on so gently,
that I did not notice it ; yet, in the forest, I could see it
was midnight. A herd of wild buffaloes, the largest I had
ever seen, came out to graze within a little more than
musket- shot from us. Suddenly I sprang on my feet at
hearing a confused noise, like the rumbling of a thunder-
storm, or distant guns at sea, The woods seemed in
motion ; jackals, foxes, and dappled deer came bounding
out of the forest ; the herd of black buffaloes ceased to
graze, and turned towards the place whence the noise pro-
ceeded. A large flock of glittering peacocks, and other
birds, flew screaming over our heads. A pelican that I
had watched making prize of a snake, dropped it within a
yard of my feet, and flew away. Our little wire-haired
elephants, feeding on the shrubs beneath us, looked ter-
rified, and their keepers left them, and crawled up the
rocks. I watched the opening in the dark forest, which
was half screened by thick and thorny bushes, when pre-
sently a mohr of the elk-kind burst cover, and, with one
long, magnificent bound, appeared in the plain. In his

352 ADVENTURES OF

stature he was far beyond those which are known in
Europe, and his twisted horns were long as that Malay's
spear. At the same instant, a single, clear, deep, terrific
roar, like a burst of thunder, announced the hunting lion.
He forced his way through bush and briar, with his nose
to the ground, followed by four others. On entering the
plain, he seemed for some moments endeavouring to catch
the scent in silence, his nose always to the ground. Having,
as it appeared, hit it, he again gave a roar, which was now
echoed by all the others ; and, pursuing the track of the
stag, he started off at a long gallop, the rest following close
in a line at his heels. I remarked, if any of them at-
tempted to break the line, or pass him, he checked them
with his voice, which became deeper and more growling.

" The elk, taking the upper ground, went at an eagle's
speed along the margin of the river, leaving the lions far
behind. In attempting to leap the river from a ledge of
rock, the opposite bank gave way, and he rolled in ; then,
wading down, he stopped an instant, as if to breathe and
brace his limbs, the voices of the lions now in full chorus
nearing him. He ascended a slope, and, crossing, came
towards us in the deep, dry channel of the torrent.

" I should have observed that the leading lion, when
he passed through the herd of buffaloes, took no other
notice of them than as they appeared to have puzzled him
in regaining the scent of the stag. The buffaloes stood
their ground, without budging to make way for the lions,
as if fearless of attack ; and my guides assured me these
animals are more than a match for the fierest lion, and
that any one of them could kill two or three tigers. How-
ever that may be, as the lion passed through the line of
these huge oxen, his grisly and erect mane, and shaggy
tail, waved above them. It was clear he hunted by scent,
and not by sight; instead of crossing the river in the
nearest direction to where the stag now was, he nosed him
to the spot where he had leaped, then wading to the
opposite bank where the stag had fallen, he also followed
the course of the stream, ascended the slope, and, ever in
track of his prey, crossed into the torrent's bed.

" In all probability the poor stag had received some in-

A YOUNGER SON. 35fi

jury from his fall. His speed decreased, whilst that of
the lions was augmented, and their voices grew louder as
they neared the chase. The stag had passed the rocky
ledge on which I stood, soon followed by the full pack.
I had a good view of them : the first was an old gaunt
brute, his black skin shining through his thin, starred,
reddish hair j his tail was bare and draggled, and the hair
on his mane was clotted together ; his eyes looked dim and
bloodshot ; his huge lower jaw was down, and his tongue
hung out like a wearied dog's. He, however, kept the lead,
followed by a lioness, and three male cubs, almost fully
grown. The stag now made attempts to ascend the bank,
as if to regain the jungle ; but the loose shingle gave way,
and he lost much ground. He seemed also, as the chase
gained on him, to be panicstruck by their roars ; and,
again falling when he had ascended three parts of the
steep acclivity, he was unable to rise. The roaring of the
lions was magnificent, as the head one, erecting his mane,
and lashing his sides with his tail, bounded in on him with
a mighty spring. Then with one paw on his body, he
growled the others off, and leisurely began his breakfast,
his family stealing aside with limbs and fragments which
he tore away and scattered about.

" But here comes our wild Malay chieftain ; so finish
your coffee, and let us be moving to the city of kings, —
or of wild beasts, — for they are too often the same. What
glorious sport it would be, to hunt tigers with the souls of
tyrants within them I"

CHAPTER VII.

Amid the desolation of a city
Which was the cradle, and is now the grave
Of an extinguished people, so that pity
Weeps o'er the shipwrecks of oblivion's wave

The tigers leap up ;
A loud, long, hoarse cry
Bursts at once from their vitals tremendously. Shelley's MS.

As we approached the hill, there was an undulating ground,
the soil red; with low jungle, bearing red and yellow berries

A A

354 ADVENTURES OF

in profusion. Bustards, large flocks of cranes, herons, and
sea-birds were in the air. Jackalls, foxes, and several
animals I had not seen before, crossed our path. We had
glimpses of herds of wild elephants and buffaloes, grazing
on the plain we had passed. At noon we were stopped by
a river, broad, muddy, and shallow, which doubtless floods
the upper plain during the rainy season ; that is, for seven
or eight months during the year ; it then must force a
passage into the morass below. After being a long time
detained, the elephants forded it, when we rested for the
night ; or rather we did not rest, for we were so tormented
with stinging vermin that none of us could sleep. The
next day we ascended (as it is called) the Haunted Hill ;
which the natives hold in such superstitious awe, that, in
all probability, we were, for centuries, the first who had
disturbed the hallowed precincts of ogres and spirits, con-
fidently reported to reside there. Remnants indeed there
were of a city of some sort. De Ruyter said they were
Moorish. There were large masses of stone, choked-up
tanks, and indications of where wells had once been, but
almost entirely concealed by thick bushes, dank weeds,
creepers, and other vegetation, flourishing in profusion.
Wherever it was penetrable, it bore the footprints of so
many wild animals, that there was enough to check the
hitherto insatiable thirst of dry and musty antiquaries.

We pitched our tents on a rocky part of the hill free
from jungle, lighted fires, roasted a young stag, commenced
arrangements for the morrow's sport, and slept. Before
the dawn, the restless Malay chieftain was calling up his
followers, and preparing the elephants, of which he had
six. Soon after it was light, every thing was in readiness,
and we set forward. Zela, who insisted on accompanying
us, was mounted on her small elephant, and encaged in
the only covered houdah, ours being all open. We beat
about in vain ; for though we met with tigers' footmarks
in many of the open places, near pools of standing water,
the high grass and thick bushes prevented our tracing them
to cover. We found, however, abundance of smaller
game ; deer, wild hogs, and a variety of birds. De
Ruyter having carefully surveyed the neighbourhood,

A YOUNGER SON. 355

came in at night, and told us he had tracked three tigers
to a thick jungle, near which he had found the bones 01
an ^Ik-deer, recently killed by them.

With this promise of sport, we started in the morning
in great glee ; and, as we thought, well prepared for the
attack. After riding about two miles, we descended to
the plain, and came to an exceedingly thick jungle, with
thorny bushes and canes. Around us was the plain
covered with very high jungle grass, and dank weeds,
with bushes scattered here and there, but few timber trees.
De Ruyter conducted us to the spot where he had dis-
covered the stag's bones, surrounded by moist and torn-up
earth, and trampled grass ; thence we had no difficulty in
tracing the tiger's huge paws into the patch of jungle.
Here De Ruyter divided our party, so as to block up the
only apparently accessible outlets, made by wild beasts ;
and by these openings we were to enter. The greater
proportion of our party was on foot, and seemingly as un-
concerned as if going in to hunt weasels, I left Zela, seated
in her houdah, at the opening of the wood, guarded by
four of her own Arabs.

De Ruyter and myself dismounted to clear a passage ;
the Malays were divided into two parties; and we were
backed by our sailors, whom we cautioned to be careful in
the use of their fire-arms, as more was to be feared from
accidents with them, than from the tigers. De Ruyter
expressed great doubts of our elephants facing the tiger,
but it was necessary to try them. In our progress towards
the bushes we turned out many deer, hares, and wild cats.
We saw also ruins, said to be those of a Moorish palace.
Nothing but the sagacity of the elephants could have
steered us clear of broken masses of buildings, chasms,
and wells overgrown with dank verdure. It was a wild
and haunted-looking place, which awed even the sailors in
their boisterous mirth, and silenced the ribaldry and ob-
scene threatening of the Malays. The low trumpeting
sound and foot-stamping of our elephants gave notice that
the tiger's den was near. A vaulted ruin was before us ;
there was a rustling amongst the bushes ; De Ruyter said,
iC Bs steady, my lads !" and a tiger, the first I had ever

A A 2

856

ADVENTURES OF

faced, finding his passage blocked up, charged us. We
fired together, I know not with what effect ; for both our
elephants slued round, and ran away wild with fear. My
mahout threw himself off, and a branch of a tree struck
me off. I heard a tremendous war-whoop, and fire kept
up on all sides. De Ruyter's elephant fell into a half-
choked well ; but, with his wonted self-possession, he ex-
tricated himself.

Leaving the elephants to their fate, we determined not
to lose the sport. De Ruyter thought there were more
tigers in the den, and we went on foot to drive them out.
We got some of the men together, and proceeded to the
spot, to which we were directed by the abominable stench,
and the dried bones scattered about. The bushes were
cleared away, and we heard, as we drew near, back to
back, forcing our way onwards, low muttering growls and
sharp snarls. " Stand close ! " exclaimed De Ruyter ;
cc there is a tigress with her whelps ; — have a care ; —
don't fire, my lads, till she breaks cover, and fire low.''

A whelp, three parts grown, first came forth to charge
us. De Ruyter, expecting the old one would follow, reserved
his fire, and cautioned me to do the same. The whelp
looked frightened, and slunk away, crouching under a
thick bush, where it remained snarling, and thither the
other whelps followed. The mother's growl became ter-
rific ; a shot at one of the whelps brought her out, lashing
her sides, and foaming with rage. She rushed right on
us; I fired both barrels; we then retreated a few paces.
The wounded brute staggered after us; and when rising to
spring, De Ruyter, who had still reserved his fire, shot
her right through the heart. While I was charging my
gun, one of the whelps, already wounded, drove against
me, and knocked me down ; when De Ruyter, with as
much coolness as if he had been pigeon-shooting, put his
rifle to his ear, and almost blew its head off. Meantime
the sailors kept up a fire, till the balls were flying about
our heads, on the remaining whelps, which were stealing
away wouuded. " Let us stand behind this rock/' said
De Ruyter ; u a sailor uses a musquet as he does a horse,
— he bears down all before him."

A YOUNGER SON. 557

A Malay came from the chieftain to tell us the other
part of the jungle was alive with tigers — that they had
already killed two, and that one of their men was dead.
There was now as much noise and confusion as in a naval
battle, or at the sacking of a city. I observed, however,
that tigers were not such formidable opponents as I had
imagined. They lay close and crouching in the long grass,
or under the bushes, and were as difficult to get up as cats
or quail. It generally required a shot to move them ; then
they always essayed every means of escape through the
thickest cover; and it was only when finding every passage
blocked up, and smarting from wounds, that they rushed
blindly and madly on their pursuers, forced by despair,
like a cat or a rat. With nerve and self-possession, two
men with double-barrelled guns would have little to fear,
and might boldly go up to the mouth of the den of a
tiger. This piece of thick jungle, interspersed with
caverns, rocks, and ruins, plenty of water near, a great
plain covered with high jungle-grass, and well supplied
with a diversity of smaller animals to prey upon, was a
favoured abode for tigers ; and had they been endowed
with reason, they could not have selected a spot on the
island so admirably adapted for their residence, while
their number and size indicated how well they thrived
there. A great many escaped on the plain, where it v/as
impossible to follow them. Several of our men were badly
mauled by them, and more by falls : one of the Malays
had his spine so injured, that he died in great agony.

CHAPTER VIII.

And each hunter, panic-stricken,
Felt his heart with terror sicken,
Hearing the tremendous cry.

• Former years

Arise, and bring forbidden tears. Shelley.

Uneasy at my long absence from Zela, I went alone (for
all our people were scattered) to the entrance of the wood,

A A 3

358 ADVENTURES OF

where I had left her guarded. As I approached the place,
I was alarmed at a mingled noise of tigers, elephants, and
screaming voices. I hastened on as fast as the thick cover
and broken ground would permit. The fierce snarlings
of tigers became louder. I passed the spot where I had
left Zela, burst through the cover wildly with terror, and,
on getting to the open space, beheld a monstrous tiger on
the back of her elephant, clinging with his huge claws
on the houdah, gnashing his teeth, roaring, and foaming
with rage. Zela not visible, methought he had devoured
her ! I struck my head with my clenched hand, exclaim-
ing, " Fool ! fool ! " and for a moment staggered un-
nerved, while a deathlike sickness came over me ! It
was but a moment : my blood renewed its course through
my veins like flame ! My carbine not being charged,
I cast it from me; and, armed with nothing but a
long Malayan creese, fierce and fearless, I rushed by a
half-grown limping tiger-whelp, whining and gnawing at
something, which I passed unheedingly. The elephant
was stamping, squeeling, and struggling desperately to
shake off his enemy. The grisly tiger fell ; but within his
gripe he held a human victim, bent up, and enveloped in a
white cotton garment, such as Zela wore. As I came
within a few paces of the tiger, holding his victim down
with a paw upon his breast, he glared ferociously on me.
While I was rushing in on him, a voice above me, faint
and tremulous, said, "Oh, Prophet, guard him!" I
heard no more — ^ I was madly striking out my arm, to
plunge the weapon in the tiger's throat, while he was in the
act of springing on me. The elephant, as if Zela's prayer had
been heard, struck the tiger, while his eye was fixed on me,
with his hind foot, sent him reeling many paces, and, ere
he could recover, I had plunged my creese up to the
hilt in his body. A loud shout, drowning the cries of
tiger, elephant, and all others, now burst on my ear, and
the Malay chieftain came up, in good time; for so tena-
cious of life is the tiger, that he was still enabled to strike
me down with his paw, and as the whelp had come on
me, I should have been torn to pieces but for the chief-
tain's timely aid. He thrust his spear through the

A YOUNGER SON. 359

whelp, and buried his dagger twenty times in the body of
the tiger; then, dragging the lifeless brute from above
me, he helped me up, and said, " Yes, this is very good
amusement — I like it! Let's go into the jungle again —
there are plenty more of them, and we'll kill them all !"
Upon which, roaring like a lion, and reeking with sweat
and blood, he shook his spear, and darted into the wood
again.

My wild and vacant eye fortunately fell on the form of
Zela, who was clinging speechless at my feet, or I should
have died or gone mad. I endeavoured to raise her, but
my strength had left me. I staggered and fell, clasping
her, when for a time I was almost insensible. Recovering,
I beheld her safe, saw the dead bodies of the tigers, and
found all was quiet near us.

cc What is that ? " I asked, pointing to the bundle of
white rags which lay close at my feet.

(C That, dearest, is the poor mahout — I fear he is
dead!"

(C Oh, is it only he ! I thought it had been you, and
that you were now but a spirit, my elected good one ; for
you know, by my new Arab creed, I am allowed two, a
good one and a bad one."

My rage was presently directed against Zela's Arabs,
who made their appearance from the bushes, whither they
had been lured by the cubs of a leopard, one of which
they had secured, De Kuyter having shot the dam. I
was infuriated at these fellows for having put Zela's life
in jeopardy, and gave chase to one, with the determination
of shooting him. My pistol was pointed at his breast,
and I was in the act of pulling the trigger, when a hand
struck up my arm, and the pistol was discharged in the
air. I turned round, prepared to fell the intruder with
the heavy-capped butt-end of the weapon, when the eye
of Zela met mine with a glance that penetrated my breast,
and would have restored my reason, had I been mad. In
her low piercing accents, she said —

" He is our foster-brother ; our milk was the same, so
must be our blood. Let us not destroy each other. Has
not the Prophet, this day, saved the remnant of our father's
a a 4

S60 ADVENTURES OP

house? It is the evil spirit, which pursued my lather to
his death, that hath now descended on you ! His hand is
on your heart ; beware lest it should be turned to stone.
His shadow is hanging over you, like a cloud over the
sun, and makes you appear as black, and fierce, and un-
forgiving as himself!"

(C You are our Malay's hawk, I suppose ; but the black
shadow of the raven's wing is vanished — the sun is un-
obscured — the ill-omened bird has left me ! I must to
the jungle again. What can have become of De Ruyter ?
Come, mount your elephant : I would rather entrust you
to him, than leave you girt round by a thousand Arabs.
He is a noble beast."

Going up to him, I gave Zela some bread and fruit that
she might feed him. He seemed abstracted in gloomy
contemplation, and gazed with more than human sympathy
on the prostrate body of the dying mahout. He noticed
us not ; and as his eye fell on the dead tiger, he stamped,
looked fierce, and made a trumpeting noise, as if in triumph
at having avenged his friend's death ! Then, as if re-
membering he had avenged, but not saved, his ears and
trunk drooped ; and though he himself was torn and bleed-
ing, his moist and thoughtful eye gave token that all his
feelings were absorbed in grief for him he had lost. He
stood over and watched the Arabs, who were making a sort
of hurdle for the purpose of carrying away the dying man ;
for his breast was torn open, and one of his groins dread-
fully mangled. The affectionate beast refused to eat, even
after the man was conveyed out of sight. I placed the
bamboo ladder against him, and Zela mounted to the
houdah : he curled his trunk round ; and on recognising
who it was, resumed his former position, and continued to
make low moans, as of anguish.

I must remark that the man for whom the elephant was
mourning had long been his provider; and, since the
death of the mahout who was killed by the chieftain, had
himself become mahout. The elephant did not seem at
all concerned at the death of the Tiroon, doubtless owing
to his having been a bad and cruel master ; for certainly
these animals not only have reason, but are more rational

A YOUNGER SON. 36 1

than those they serve. In gratitude for his having saved
Zela's and my life, I would, had it been possible, have
kept, loved, and cherished him. When we parted from
him, Zela kissed him, wept, and cut off some of the strong
bristly hair near his ears, which I have ever worn, hooped
round a ring, engraven with his name.

But again I am wandering from my subject ; nor can I
restrain myself. I must dwell on those occurrences, how-
ever trifling to others, which were written on my memory
thus early. Now my brain is like a confused scrawl,
crossed and recrossed, blotted, soiled, and torn : it can
contain no more, and that which was written in after
years is illegible; so that when I come to narrate the
latter events of my life, it will be as difficult, and require
as much time, toil, and patience, as the unrolling of the
antique parchments of Herculaneum, or the Egyptian
papyri, and, like them, when deciphered, not worth the
trouble.

CHAPTER IX.

Most wretched men ;
And cradled into poetry by wrong*
They learn in suffering what they teach in song.

And now his limbs were lean ; his scattered hair,

Sered by the autumn of strange suffering,

Sung dirges in the wind ; his listless hand

Hung like dead bone within its withered skin ;

Life, and the lustre that consumed it, shone

As in a furnace burning secretly

From his dark eyes alone. Shelley.

Collecting a party of men, I returned to the jungle in
search of De Ruyter, whose long absence alarmed me. At
last I heard his well-known voice, hallooing, and calling by
name one of his followers. On coming up to him, he in-
quired anxiously after a Frenchman, his secretary, who had
accompanied him to the jungle, and was missing. The
wild animals being now driven to the plain, we separated

36% ADVENTURES OF

into parties of twos and threes, and explored, in different
directions, a wide extent of the thicket, calling out his
name, and firing musquets to let him know where we were.
But in vain ; and the rapid approach of night warning us
to leave the gloomy abode of tigers, reptiles, and fever, we
walked towards our tents, marvelling what could have
become of the Frenchman.

He was a young man whom De Ruyter, in compassion
for some misfortunes which had happened to him at the
Isle of France, had befriended; and, to dissipate his
melancholy, had taken him from the counting-house of
De Ruyter's agents, where he was employed, to make this
voyage, during which he was to act as supercargo. At
the first he fulfilled his duty with exactness; but was
hardly ever out of his own cabin in the day time, and
never mingled nor communicated with those on board, De
Ruyter excepted. He ate little. Books and writing, which
had been, as a poet, his only solace, lost their power to
move him. He continued for days gloomily entranced
in abstracted reveries, only broken by talking, at times, to
himself, and monotonously sounding a broken guitar. In
my visits to the grab I rarely saw him ; and, being piqued
at his distant manner, I was fool enough to resent it, not
discriminating that he was tongue-tied from sorrow, not
from haughtiness. One day he was seated on the tafFrail,
his favourite seat, and, on my asking him a question, his
mind was so abstracted that he did not hear me. Nettled
at this, I made some sarcastic comparison, — I forget what.
He appeared stung by it; but remained silent, and walked
down to his cabin. Van Scolpvelt, who heard this, told me
I was very much in the wrong. (C For/' said he," he is a
hypochondriac ; and if he follow not my advice, will as-
suredly go mad. As he consumes more opium than a
Chinese, he may be considered a dreaming philosopher.
In the hallucinations, produced by that drug, his faculties
are entranced. He is smitten on the brain, — he reads and
writes verses ! I caught him in the act ! Fools might say
he was inspired; but I know it is the first and worst
symptom of lunacy. All other maniacs have lucid inter-
vals ; some are cureable ; but the madness of poets, dogs,

A YOUNGER SON. S68

and musicians, is past hope. Earth possesses no remedy.,
science no cure/'

That night I lay on deck waiting De Ruyfcer, who was
on shore. Every one, I believed, was asleep but myself.
I saw the young Frenchman come up the hatchway ;
the bright light of the moon fell on his face, and made
him look more pallid than that luminary. He walked
steadily two or three times around the deck, as if seeking
some person. I thought on Torro ; and that, as I had
insulted him, he might meditate revenge. Nevertheless I
lay still, with just enough of my eyes shut, as he passed,
to make him believe I slept. He regarded me, for a
moment, steadfastly. If he had held any weapon, I
should have sprung up ; but his eye looked dull and heavy,
and his hands hung listlessly down. He went aft, moved
one of the shot- cases, as if going to sit down, and mounted
to his usual place, the taffrail. I still kept my eyes fixed
on him, and saw his fixed on the moon. He turned to
gaze on the water, muttering something which I could not
distinguish, when, as if he had lost his balance, he fell
into the sea. I sprung up, awakened the sleepers nearest
to me, hastened to the spot whence he had fallen, and called
out, ee A man overboard ! — Drop the boat astern ! *'

The schooner lay in the grab's wake, and the night was
so still that they heard my orders ; and I heard them getting
into their boat, as I shoved off in ours. I kept steadfastly
looking at the spot where the man had sunk, around which
the water rippled and sparkled ; and after a painful sus-
pense I observed the body (for the sea was transparent as
glass for many fathoms), as if suspended midway. It was
bent double, with the face downward ; the bright globular
buttons on the back of the jacket, such as are worn by
dragoons, shone clearly. Forgetting every thing but the
man's danger, and knowing this was a critical moment, I
plunged in head foremost, so as to bring myself close to
him under water. I caught hold of his arm ; and the im-
petus with which a good swimmer brings himself up
brought us both to the surface. I then endeavoured, by
shifting my gripe, to lift his head from the water ; but his
body was rigidly bent, and so extraordinarily heavy, thatj

364

ADVENTURES OF

notwithstanding the violent exertions I made to keep myself
afloat, and the unruffled surface of the sea in my favour, I
swallowed so much water that I was half water-logged
myself. About to let him go, in order to preserve
myself, the schooner's boat reached me an oar; missing
that, she passed over us, and forced me under water. How-
ever, in imminent peril of drowning, I retained hold of
the body. Two men from the boat plunged in, when the
young Frenchman, to our surprise, became almost buoyant.
We were then all hauled into the boat, and returned to the
grab with our rescued man, who showed no signs of life.

Sick, cramped, with a head as if bursting, I was accosted
by Van, who felt my pulse, and said, f< You are in need of
medicine; and sea- water is very good for a strong stomach.
But you were injudicious in exhibiting so large a dose.
I never prescribe more than a tumbler full, to be taken
fasting every day, a.m."

"Go, doctor, and look at your patient below. If I
have gulped a barrel, you '11 find he has swallowed a butt,
and must bulge, if you don 't bear a hand and bale him
out."

" How long was he in the water ? "

<e I can't say ; — it seemed to me an hour."

cc No," said the Rais ; " I turned the minute glass six
times."

" Oh ! " replied Van, <e you need not then have been
so impatient. You may safely remain under water for
twenty minutes, provided I am at hand to restore you.
Come, — you shall see."

Down he stalked into the cabin, where he caused the
body to be stripped and laid on a table. Then by means
of external warmth, friction, and an artificial inflation of
the lungs, faint symptoms of returning life appeared.
Louis, who stood by with his stone bottle, now placed it
to the man's mouth, and was about to drench him, but Van
indignantly pushed it away. Nevertheless Louis pertinaci-
ously insisted on it ever after that he, not the doctor, had saved
the man's life, by allowing him to inhale the aroma of the
skedam. A small bottle of ether was placed to the man's
nose, and afterwards a few drops, diluted, were poured

A YOUNGER SOX, 365

down his throat ; but it was some hours before he opened
his eyes, or moved his limbs.

But to shorten my story, he recovered ; and we ascer-
tained that his design had been to drown himself; that he
had taken two double-headed cannon shot from the case
which lay aft, ready for service, and, with one in each
hand, by way of ballast, had dropped himself overboard ,
having previously assured himself that we were ail asleep.
From this time forth he sank into the gloomiest despair,
totally indifferent to every thing. He neither spoke, nor
ate, unless at De Ruyter's entreaty, and then merely to be
rid of his importunity. His aversion to me (since 1 had
saved his life) appeared to be the only feeling left him,
He scowled at me, as in abhorrence, when accident, which
seldom occurred, brought us near each other.

It was about a month after this event that we set out
for the tiger hunt, when he applied for permission to
accompany us, which De Ruyter gladly gave him. He
had followed in the rear of our party, and seemed to dread
being noticed. It was strictly enjoined by De Ruyter,
who himself never lost sight of him, that he should in no
way be molested, or intruded on. When we arrived at the
hunting-ground, he was more observant and wakeful; I
thought he even looked cheerful. On entering the jungle,
there was a strange brightness in his eyes, a quickness hi
his movements. Instead of his wonted scowl, or shudder,
and averted look, as I passed him, he appeared as if going
to address me, and smiled, with kindness beaming in his
aspect. He stood by De Ruyter, when he and I backed
into the first tiger's lair; and, though armed with a car-
bine, he did not attempt to use it. This carbine was
afterwards found near the place. During the confusion
which ensued he must have withdrawn himself, as from
that moment he could not be traced, nor was he ever after
heard of.

ic 1 have reason to believe," said De Ruyter to me,
" from some expressions that dropped from him, that,
having pledged his word not to offer violence to himself
again, while we were seeking tigers to destroy, he sought
them to be destroyed. When urging him against self-

S66

ADVENTURES OP

destruction, after you had rescued him, he answered me
querulously, and half abstractedly, " Am I a doomed slave,
that I cannot dispose of my own body, now that it is a
burthen? Why should that fierce Englishman, who
destroys every thing opposing him, and delights in cutting
off those who cling to life, drag me from my quiet rest
under the sea? The coral rocks seemed soft as her
bosom ! I thought I was sleeping on her lap in heaven !
Then that devil brought me back to this hell here, — to
me a tenfold one ! There is no quiet but in death ; and
they have all conspired to keep me, that loathe life, living.
But I will defeat their malice, — yet keep my promise V

For three days we continued our hunting in the jungle,
and amidst the ruins, more excited by the hope of ascer-
taining the fate of the young Frenchman, than by the
sport. Indeed the greater portion of the tigers had aban-
doned this part of the wood ; and the accidents which had
occurred had sobered our enthusiasm. The mysterious
disappearance of a person we are interested in impels us
strangely on to undergo any toil, or sacrifice, which we
fancy may clear it up ; but our search was fruitless. Ex-
cept the carbine, we could neither discover the youth, nor
any rag nor thing that had been his.

There was, indeed, afterwards, the strongest positive
evidence, if men's oaths are to be believed (which I, for
one, discredit), that the suicide- spirit haunted the grab.
His complaints were heard muttering in the wind ; his
shadowy form rested on the taffrail; and, if any one was
hardy enough to approach, it plunged into the sea, and
followed in the ship's wake, struggling in vain to sink under
the surface. The sailors moreover asserted, on their oaths,
that he was no living man when he was first entered on
board, that the captain should never have placed him on
the ship's books, and that he would pursue them till his
body was buried. De Ruyter told me he could not yet get
the fellows aft to the main boom at night, and had several
times nearly lost it, and had his vessel endangered by their
superstition.

A YOUNGER SON. 3Qj

CHAPTER X.

Alas ! what drove him mad ?
* * * * I cannot say.
A lady came with him from France, and when
She left him, * * he wandered then
About yon lonelv isles of desert sand,
Till he grew wild. Shelley.

Love, jealous grown of so complete a pair,

Hover'd and buzz'd his wings, with fearful roar,

Above the lintel of their chamber door,

And down the passage cast a glow upon the floor. Keats.

The history of this youth I learnt from De Ruyter. His
agent in the Isle of France had written to Europe for
French clerks; and some time after, two young persons
landed with a recommendation to him. They called them-
selves brothers, which was warranted by a strong family re-
semblance. The elder was seemingly under twenty, and
the other much younger; both handsome, gentle, and
strikingly elegant, but the younger more particularly so,
being likewise delicate and effeminate in appearance and
manner. An apartment was assigned to them in the mer-
chant's house. The elder knew very little of business
when he came out, the younger less ; their employer was
vexed at this, but their unremitting attention and fidelity
soon reconciled him to them, till, by application, they be-
came admirable accountants. They were inseparable,
shunning all intercourse with others, and were utterly dif-
ferent from the young men he had ever seen. For this
conduct they gave plausible reasons ; the delicate health of
the younger, their being orphans, and the injunction of
their dying parents.

A malignant fever, then rife in the country ^ seized on
the younger, and the other never quitted him. For change
of air they were removed out of the merchant's house, in
Port St. Louis, to a villa. Not having seen or heard of
them for some days, the merchant walked out one evening
to visit them. On approaching the villa, he was alarmed
at observing, though it was then the hottest time of the
year, and the coolest of the day, the place shut up, silent,

368

ADVENTURES OP

and apparently abandoned. After calling and knocking
many times, he forced open a back window, and entered
the house. Hearing a low moaning noise in a room over
his head, he went up stairs, listened at the door, called the
brothers by name, received no answer, tried the door, and
found it was secured. He procured instruments, and broke
it open. The brothers lay on a mattress on the floor,
locked fast in each other's embraces. He thought them
both dead ; yet having so recently heard the voice of one,
he examined them more closely ; and uncovering the bodies
for that purpose, he was amazed at discovering the younger
to be a woman. She had been dead some time. The
lover, who was a strong, athletic youth, just on the verge
of complete manhood, exhibited faint signs of life.

Examining the room, the merchant found a sealed paper
addressed to him, the contents of which deeply affected
him, and solved the mystery. It there appeared that the
youth, unable to endure the loss of his beloved, and his
disease not destroying him as speedily as he desired (for
he too had caught the fever), had swallowed poison —
opium, — that, as in life, so in death, their spirits might be
inseparable. The merchant, gifted with presence of mind
and knowledge, eventually restored the youth to life ; the
violence of passion neutralising, or, at least, diminishing the
effect of the opium. Still the poison, or grief, the most
subtle of destroyers, had penetrated the brain, and he was
for some months, in a state of mental oblivion. Time and
care restored his faculties ; but the body and mind refused
their mutual succour, and warred against each other. While
the mind lay torpid, the body gained strength ; but, on re-
suming its faculties, it preyed on the body. Sunk into
misery and despondency, he was a mere shadow, and
wandered, during the darkness, like a phantom. The man
of bales and ships' bottoms fortunately retained touches
of humanity, and did all he could to obliterate or mitigate
such sorrow. But it lay too deep for the surgeon's probe,
the leech's drug, or a friend's sympathy. As a last hope,
De Ruyter embarked him on board the grab, thinking, if
anything could stir him, it would be our bustling and ever-
varying life.

A YOUNGER SOU. 360

The letter left by the youth, previously to his taking the
opium, explained every thing. They were of a noble
family. The young lady had been educated in a convent
in Paris, founded for the incarceration of the younger
daughters of those proud, unnatural, aristocratic parents,
who, to defeat the wise and just ordination of the law of
France, by which property is equally apportioned, consign
their last offspring to living graves, that they may be
robbed of their birthright. The youth gained admittance
there, privileged by ties of consanguinity. Their love was
known, for it had grown from youth, though circumstances
had separated them. They saw each other, after the lapse
of years, when the innocent love of childhood burst into a
fierce and uncontrollable passion. Possibly the vestal sisters
dreamed not of love's finding an entrance into their holy
asylum, much less of what that love might lead to. Be-
sides, love was forbidden there.

" The walls are high ; the gates are strong; thick set
The sentinels ; but true love never yet
Was thus constrained."

Escape was contrived in disguise, and executed. They
reached Havre de Grace. A Dutch skipper, bribed with
all their wealth, concealed them in his ship. The Argus-
eyed police of Prance was in motion. They were traced ;
an embargo was laid on the port and every vessel searched,
from her truck to her kelston. The skipper knew the con-
sequences of detection, the least of which was restitution of
the gold and jewels he had received ; while the dread of
fine and imprisonment sharpened his wit, and inspired him
with cunning, surpassing that of the police. Whilst the
embargo continued, and during the heat of the scrutiny on
board the ships in the port, he concealed the lovers, whom
he believed to be the sons of a conscript of rank, in the
vaults of his own smuggling agent. On the vessel being
allowed to leave the port, he re- shipped them, and most
providentially headed them for security in two casks,
stowed on deck ; for (whether from any suspicion of this
particular vessel, or that it was a general practice, is not
mentioned) when the Dutchman had got his vessel under
weigh, he was boarded by the police agents, and the search

B B

3?0 ADVENTURES OF

renewed,, with augmented rigour. It was then that a police
officer took the hung out of the cask, in which the girl was
concealed, and passed his sword in it, grazing her hosom ;
while the skipper carelessly observed, " It's only an empty
water cask !" Love, which gives to the gentlest heart the
courage of a hero, enabled her to endure this desperate
ordeal in silence.

Thus they eluded the searchers, and escaped to Holland,
friendless and destitute. The skipper, fearing discovery,
and judging from circumstances which had transpired,
during the search of the police, that this was not a common
case, and that he had risked more than he had bargained
for, became extremely uneasy on the subject, anxiously
seeking to remove every trace that could implicate him.
He knew he had been deceived, but could by no threats or
wiles draw from them who or what they really were. At
that time the Dutch were employing every m.eans to induce
adventurers to go out to their Indian settlements ; and our
smuggling skipper was one of their agents. The youth
proposed that he should procure them situations in one of
those settlements, to which he instantly listened, and
wondered he had never thought of proposing it himself.
To his great joy they were shipped for the Isle of France,
recommended to the merchant's house already mentioned ;
and the skipper, in addition to what he had previously
pocketed, realised a handsome premium for procuring two
promising and well-educated volunteers. He knew he had
little to fear from their being heard of again.

I have been thus minute in setting down this French-
man's history, as it was the first instance which I had met
with, or which had been related to me in an authenticated
shape, of one of that nation loving anything in the world
bo dearly as himself.

A YOUNGER SON. 3?1

CHAPTER XL

Who would suppose, from Adam's simple ration,

That cookery could have called forth such resources,

As form a science and a nomenclature

From out the commonest demands of nature ?

Thera was a goodly soup. Byron.

This excursion having detained us much longer than we
had intended, we returned with all possible haste to the
place whence we had started, and embarked, having the
satisfaction to find all right on board our vessels, and the
schooner nearly ready for sea.

I had brought De Ruyter intelligence, among other news
from his agents at Pulo Penang, of an expedition fitting
out by the English, destined to attack the pirates at Sambos
on this island. The marauders were very numerous there,
and had committed great havoc on the Company's private
trade, both by sea and land; for, like the Court of
Chancery, they endeavoured to get all property into their
keeping. It was determined to attempt the annihilation
of — not the Court of Chancery, but — the comparatively
harmless pirates, during the season they were congregated
together, weather-bound in their port of Sambos. De
Ruyter resolved to defeat the expedition; and, but for the
crippled state of the schooner, I was to be immediately de-
spatched in search of French cruizers, to give them in-
telligence, and combine measures for an attack on the
Company's force by sea. That not having been possible,
De Ruyter laid his plans to aid the natives on shore, to
whom he pledged his assistance.

At length I took in my wood and water on board the
schooner, and sailed for Java, with letters and instructions
from De Ruyter* On the same day he took his departure
for Sambos. I lent him a party of my men, and two brass
guns. Thus we again separated. My commission was to
deliver despatches to the governor of Batavia, to purchase
stores and provisions, and to meet the grab again, without
& & 2

372 ADVENTURES OP

loss of time, at our appointed rendezvous. Louis went
with me as negotiator for the victualling department.

Nothing particular occurred during my run to Java ex-
cept the capture, or rather recapture (for she had been
previously taken by an English man-of-war) of a small
Spanish vessel, belonging to merchants at the Philippine
Islands, loaded with camphor, and the celebrated edible
birds' nests. There were only six English sailors and a
midshipman in charge of her, although so valuable a prize ;
consequently she could attempt no resistance.

A short time before this, an English man-of-war brig
had captured, off the Philippine Islands, a Spanish vessel,
containing a cargo of this sea-slug. On the English
officer's boarding her, and asking what she was loaded
with, the Spaniards truly answered, " Birds' nests." John
Bull, whose ship had recently entered the Chinese seas,
with gaping wonder exclaimed, " Birds' nests ! What,
you rascals, do you take me for a spoony greenhorn ?
Birds' nests ! I'll birds'-nest you, you lubberly liars ! Off
with the hatchways !"

Accordingly the hold of the vessel was searched, and the
English sailors were dumbfounded at discovering nothing
but sacks of stinking, dirty, muddy-looking swallows' nests,
such as they had seen sticking under the eaves of houses.
They still thought this slimy compost was merely placed
as a skreen or cover, to shelter something more valuable,
and threw a great portion of it overboard, in order to arrive
at the treasure below — chuckling, and treating the Spa-
niards with derision, the Jack-tars cutting many witticisms
on Spanish sailors going a birds'-nesting. They cleared
down to her kelston, and searched into every nook in vain.
Their officer, on his return to the brig, gave the commander
an account of what the Spaniards had told him, and that
he had verified it with his own eyes ; upon which there
was a general laugh throughout the ship. " However,"
quoth the greenhorn commander, " the vessel is Spanish,
and we must keep her. Though she is but in ballast, her
hull is worth something. They must have been hard up
for shingle, where they come from, to put sludge in her, —
and in bags !"

A YOUNGER SON. 3?S

He then gave orders that a midshipman, and three or
four of his worst men, should take charge of her, and run
her into the nearest port. One rational thing he did was
to remove the Spanish prisoners to his own brig, or they
would have soon retaken her. Thus he left her, and it
was not till he himself put into a Chinese port, and acci-
dentally mentioned this occurrence, as a joke against the
Spaniards, that he learnt the value of the prize. The
edible birds' nests were at that time selling in the Chinese
market at thirty-two Spanish dollars a kattie; so that,
on a computation of the quantity in the vessel, she was
worth from eighty to ninety thousand pounds ; and he,
poor devil, that had served twenty years without clearing
twenty pounds prize-money, would have made a fortune. He
raged, and stormed, and went to sea again to look after her.
He offered up prayers, for the first time in his life, for her
safe arrival in port. But it was otherwise decreed ; the
few lubberly fellows he had put on board of her were not
sufficient to work her, and she was wrecked on the coast
of China. A galleon of gold-dust would not have been
such a windfall to the Chinese as was this cargo of sea-
slug. The news spread like wildfire through the country
that a vessel had stranded on their coast containing incal-
culable wealth. The timid Chinese forgot their fears,
and, regardless of winds and seas, rushed through the
foaming surf, trampled the strong over the weak, brother
over brother, all hurrying on board the wreck ; which was
so effectually pillaged, that she was left floating like an
empty tea-chest, not a grain of her cargo being left sticking
to her ribs. During the scramble in the water, and on
the wreck — for every handful was fought for — many
lives were lost; and the coast, for several miles round,
was in anarchy and confusion for a long time after.

The capturer of the prize I Tetook was of the class
of well-informed officers. I had more care of her ; and,
for security, took my prize in tow. Louis entreated that
he might go on board of her as prize-agent ; declaring
that the only thing he wished was to perfect himself in
the mystery of concocting that savoury and glutinous
soup, secundum artem, so famous in China, that they have
b b 3

374? ADVENTURES OF

a proverb there, which says that if the spirit of life were
departing from the nostrils, and the odour of this soup
were to salute them, the spirit would reanimate the clay,
knowing there is no luxury in paradise to compare with it.
" Besides," added Louis, " should I introduce this de-
licious restorative into Europe, and the no less renowned
Chinese arrack-punch, I shall be more deservedly famous
than Van Tromp, or the Prince of Orange, — and I will
be ! "

With these ambitious and glorious aspirations, Louis le
Grand, in conjunction with a Chinese cook, went to work,
heart and hand ; and in the middle of a dark night, off a
a lee shore, he hailed me to heave-to, and send a boat, that
he might bring me a sample of his triumphant success.
He came with it ; and, though not at that time, I have
tasted this dish. It is certainly a voluptuous relish, but
too glutinously rich for any stomach like mine, accustomed
to simple fare. In addition to the slimy composition of
the nest, which, when dissolved, is like brown jelly, or
melted glue, there were the sinews of deer, the feet of
pigs, the fins of young sharks, the brawny part of a pig's
head, with plovers' eggs, mace, cinnamon, and red peppers.
Turtle soup is tasteless after it ; and it is a marvel that
the numerous gastronomic votaries of Europe have not
made this superlative offering to their palates. They are
to blame.

CHAPTER XII.

But I am Pestilence ; hither and thither

I flit about that I may slay and smother :

All lips that I have kiss'd must surely wither,

But Death's, — if thou art he, we '11 go to work together. Shelley

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies,

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despair,
Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,

Or new love pine at them beyond to-morrrow. Keats.

I touched at one of the Barlie Islands, which lay in my
course, but could get little else there but a couple of sacks

A YOUNGER SON. S?5

of Chinese tobacco, which is excellent. While haggling
about the price, I was playing with a pretty, slim, Malay
child. <c Come/' said the mother, fi give me the gold
more, and you shall have the tobacco, the four fowls, the
basket of eggs, the fruit, and my eldest-born child into the
bargain, — as you seem to like her."

I threw down the gold coin, told the men to take the
things into the boat, and led away the girl, about eight years
old, giving her some fruit to eat, and pice to play with,
while neither she nor the affectionate parent exchanged a
look of sorrow at parting. The little thing accompanied
me on board, perfectly enchanted with her new abode. I
gave her to Zela ; and in my own mind lauded the mother,
who exhibited so strong a proof of not being influenced by
those narrow and illiberal prejudices which prevail in
Europe. All nature teaches us that when the offspring are
weaned, and can walk, they ought no longer to be an in-
cumbrance : dogs abandon their puppies, the cow her calf,
the ewe her lamb; and Christian mothers who are enlight-
ened abandon their cubs, doubtless prompted by their
superior natural instinct. Truly the Malay mother went a
step beyond them in making a profit of her produce. In
justice to European parents, I must say, at least I believe,
they have good sense enough, and certainly know the value
of gold well enough, not to throw away that which, had
they known of an Eastern market, could have been turned
to profit. But in this, like the English commander with
the birds' nests, they are greenhorns.

France and Holland were then united under the same
dictatorship. Arrived at Batavia, the capital of Java, I
was well received by the governor, a Dutch officer. Having
delivered my despatches, he ordered the authorities under
him to afford me every facility in refitting and provisioning
my vessel; and advised me to lose no time in the port, and
to communicate as little as possible with the shore, on ac-
count of the cholera-morbus, which was then prevailing.
The merchants of the Dutch factory were so officiously
hospitable and kind, that they bored me to death with offers
of houses, and invitations to feasting and gormandizing.
De Ruyter was their hero ; and the evident unlimited con-
b b 4

376* ADVENTURES OP

fldence he reposed in me, the large sums I was commis-
sioned to negotiate, and the power I possessed of expending
what sum or sums I pleased, had a magical effect. Besides,
I had established a private stock of fame, and a name
which served my purpose very well, and passsd current for
what I then wanted ; though detraction has since analysed
— not it, but what malignity asserts it was, — and declared
the coin was base, and that the stamper of the die deserved
a halter,— assertions proceeding from sheer envy and malice.
As for gold, I had not then acquired those artificial wants
which it can supply.

" Out simple life wants little, and true taste
Hires not the pale drudge, luxury, to waste
The scene it would adorn."

Neither was I born with gentlemanly appetites, but, as
Louis said, lived more like a " nigur" than a Christian.
Like Michael Cassio, I had unhappy brains for drinking ;
my nature was too inflammable tamely to bear the spur
of wine in excess. Feasting and swilling, amidst the
sweltering and unclean slaves of the mouth, I ever held in
Brahminical abhorrence. I therefore shunned the hospi-
table board of the merchants, expediting my business with
them, impatient to regain my own little cabin, which, con-
taining Zela, was spacious enough for all the treasure I
possessed or coveted. We were greedy and insatiable in
our love, and required little else. We feasted on the same
bunch of grapes, a shadock, or a sun-cleft pomegranate.
We drank from the same cup, and sat on the same mat.
Excess of love was my only excess ; and, either from love
or temperance in diet, I acquired strength and hardiness,
proof against sickness, resisting all contagion. Whilst
others writhed and suffered from scratches, the deepest
wounds healed with me, unaided by the surgeon ; and the
cholera-morbus, now raging and destroying with a viru-
lence only to be equalled by the plague, could not penetrate
my strong and healthful frame.

The Europeans, both on board and on shore, declared
that the sole effectual preservative was, what they called,
living well and drinking freely ; that the fever was like a
blustering bully ; —

A YOUNGER SON. 377

" He was a coward to the strong,
He was a tyrant to the weak."

I acquiesced in this doctrine, but differed in the premises.
They averred that the stimulant of fiery drink was the
method of keeping up the languid circulation, the quantity
not specified. Water, fruit, rice, vegetables, and all crude
substances, were interdicted as the worst of poisons. Yet
I pursued this diet, and so did my native crew, and we
lived; while the Europeans followed their system, and died
like murrained sheep. Vessels in the harbour were driven
on shore, for want of hands to secure them ; others,
freighted, could not muster strength to weigh their anchors.
A French and a Dutch ship of war, under sailing orders,
were in such a state that they could not leave the port,
much less work their ships at sea. Tf the disease could
have been fended off by free living, the European portion
of my crew would have been fever-proof. Yet it not only
boarded us, but had the audacity to fall foul, exclusively,
on the hardy sons of the north, while it respected its own
progeny, the children of the sun.

CHAPTER XIII.

A mist arose, as from a scummy marsh :

At this, through all his bulk, an agony

Crept gradual, from the feet unto the crown,

Like a lithe serpent vast and muscular

Making slow way, with head and neck convulsed

From over-strained might. Keats.

As if to decide the question of diet, the contagion by one
fell blow, by one signal example, aimed his shaft at the
head and prime organ of his vaunting defiers, and struck
Louis. If eating and drinking could have warded off
disease, he might have been immortal. He gormandized
like a vulture, and on such dainty and nutritive bits, that
a whale's liver would not have produced more oil or an

378 ADVENTURES OF

ox's ribs more tallow than Louis le Grand. As to drink,
his throat and stomach must have been lined with some-
thing as fire-proof as asbestos, or they could not have resisted
the burning liquid which he had for so many years insa-
tiably poured down, enough to wear out a dozen copper
funnels. From the time the fatal malady commenced its
havoc on board the schooner, every hour the ship's glass
was turned, and the bell was struck, Louis marked the
time by calling out, a Boy ! don't you know the glass is
turned, and the fever come on board ? Bring the stone
bottle to keep him out ! " upon which he turned a glass
down his coppers. Arnold's chronometer in the cabin kept
not better time than Louis with his bottle. So unerring
was his palate, that if, by error or neglect, the bell was not
struck punctually, he never failed to cal] out, " Boy, the
bottle !" when, if the urchin pleaded that the bell had not
struck, Louis vociferated, " Then it should have done so;
— 'tis more than a minute past the hour ; tumble up, you
idle sea-calf, — give me the bottle ! " At last he exclaimed,
ic Ha ! you young scorpion, what have you been at ? —
sucking the bottle, and then bulling it with bilge-water ?
Why, this is not out of my locker ; this is beastly stuff, —
would make a sea-horse sick."

The boy asserted it was the same he had always drunk
when Louis waxed wroth, dashed the liquor in his face,
and was about to rope's-end him. " Hold !" said I, u let
me smell it, Louis. Come, I'll swear it's all right."

" What \ " he replied, " don't I know my own skedam ?
— the devil himself could never deceive me in that, since
I was five years old ! Van Siilpke, the great spirit-mer-
chant of A.msterdam, declared I could ascertain, better than
his spirit-proof, the strength and quality of his liquors ;
and, besides, I've swallowed as much as would float the
schooner, — haven't I ?" Here Louis paused, and showed
evident signs of sickness.

" Damned devil-boy!" he went on; (< he has been
sucking the bottle, and filled it up with physic, — and I
can't abide doctor's stuff! Bring another bottle, devil,
thief, liar!"

Another bottle was brought, and he tasted it ; but the

A YOUNGER SON. 87 Q

hitherto genial fluid had lost its flavour on his palate. He
spat, and sputtered,, and pushed the bottle from him. I
observed also that he removed a fresh-lighted pipe from his
mouth ; and, thinking there must be really something the
matter with him, I got up and went over to him. The
glow-worm sparkle of his small eager eye was dimmed, his
lips were white and frothy, the lower jaw hung down, his
head was drooping, and his hands were clenched. " Holloa,
old Louis, what's the matter ? Are you ill ? "

"111! — no, I'm never ill, — I'm only sickish. That
damned stuff is like poison in me ! " As he said this he
made a strong effort to rouse himself.

" Come," I replied, " you are ill. Go out of the sun,
and lie down aft."

" No, captain, I'm not such a fool as to be ill. I was
never sick like this except once, in the South Seas, at the
Island of Otaheite, when those — what do you call them ?
- — missionaries came aboard to preachify with the crew,
and cheat them of their dollars. Like a great fool, I went
ashore with them, and they gave me some cursed stuff they
called gin, — such blasphemy I never heard ! At first
when they told me they had set up a great distillery of gin,
I thought them very useful, clever, good. men; for yen
know, captain, any nation might be converted by hollands;
— but this was the unchristianest, beastliest liquor I ever
tasted, and it made me — as I feel now. Yet the foolish,
idiot-people of the island think it very good, because it
makes them mad-drunk, and they believe Heaven sent it ;
but it made me believe the devil had got amongst them."

Louis broke off his story by complaining of pains all over
his body, his head, and stomach. I loved Louis, and saw
with grief the ravage which the envenomed and ghastly
destroyer was tracing on his broad and honest face. I led
him down to my own cabin, placed him on my couch, and
charged the gentle Zela (who Louis declared was too kind
and good to be a woman) to nurse him, and, if aught
human could, to avert the evil power, whose armed hand I
beheld striking at his life. But it was written ; and the
stern decrees of fate who can turn aside ? He struggled
convulsively, and foamed, and raved> and then sank into

880 ADVENTURES OP

idiotic insensibility, moaning and muttering incoherent
words. As the day dawned (from long habit, outliving
both strength of body and mind), he said, in faint but clear
accents, the first intelligible sentence he had spoken for
many hours, "Boy! bring the bottle!" The weaned
and dozing boy raised himself from the cabin deck, on
which he had sunk, overworn with watching, staggered
across the cabin to perform his first diurnal duty for years,
and groped at the accustomed locker for the stone bottle. I
asked Louis how he was. " Hot ! very hot, and thirsty !
— my body is burning hot, parched up_, dry as ashes, not
a drop of moisture. Why, I am in an oven ! — Boy, the
bottle!"

I could not resist the supplicating look of his eye, and
the trembling eagerness of his hand as he grasped at the
glass, which the boy, now thoroughly awakened, held out;
but the instant the spirit, which he used to declare was the
spirit of life, had touched his white and clammy lips, he
shrank from it, and dashed it from him as if it had been a
scorpion. Then, looking wild with horror around, he cried
out, " Oh ! God ! God ! I pray for a sea of water, and a
thousand devils all bring me fire ! Oh ! I am in fire and
flame !"

He continued alternately raving and silently insensible
till about noon, when the boy came to tell me he was asleep.
So rapid and fierce had been the fever, giving no respite,
that my mind misgave me, and I went down into the cabin.
I shuddered as I beheld him ; the distorted features,
pinched and puckered up, expanded nostrils, glassy and
half-closed eye, the pallid hue of his skin touched and
streaked with blue, the ghastly and collapsed hand, and
nerveless arm hanging down, all indicated that he had struck
his flag to the grisly pirate-king. Death's gray banner
hung drooping over him. I held a mirror to his livid lips,
— there was not a breath to stain it. Decay too, as if not
brooking an instant's reprieve, had begun its work, ere the
spark of fire, which animated his clay, was extinguished.
Scarcely had I time, while standing over him, to brush
away the moisture gathering on my eyelids with the back
of my hand when the doctor of the frigate, who stood by

A YOUNGER SON. 38 1

me, putting his hand on my arm, said, " Are you deaf,
captain ? Don't you hear me ? I tell you, if you won't
cast the body overboard immediately, yours will be prey
for the dog-fish to-morrow."

Ci What ! " I exclaimed, " the warm hearted, honest,
kind, and jovial Louis, the life of the ship's company, the
best servant man ever had, food for dog-fish and sharks —
thrown overboard like a rotten sheep, ere we are certain
that life has totally abandoned him ! Feel, — he is yet
warm ! It shall not be done ! "

CHAPTER XIV.

And even and morn,
With their hammocks for coffins, the seamen aghast,
Like dead men, the dead limbs of their comrades cast
Down the deep. Shelley

The doctor returned to his ship. At the expiration of a
few hours I was convinced the advice he gave, though it
sounded harshly at the time, was nevertheless true and
good; for the decomposition was miraculously rapid, and the
atmosphere of the vessel, previously insufferably close, be-
came tainted. It would have been unsafe, a few hours later,
to approach the body ; so I gave orders to have it sewed
up in a hammock, the sailor's coffin, with a couple of heavy
shot secured at the lower extremities. Then, having
lowered it in a boat, and covered it with a flag of his
country for a pall, I pulled far outside of the harbour to sink
it, in compliance with an order that no corpse was to be
buried in or near the port. I would have read the burial-
service over him, if such a thing as a book of prayer could
have been procured ; but priests and prayer-books were
scarce articles, — indeed not to be come at on board the
schooner ; and if wandering souls are bored in the other
world for passports, as they are in a great part of this, I
pity them. We fired three volleys over the remains of

382 ADVENTURES OF

Louis, and committed the body to the deep. Watching it
as it sunk, with a heavy heart, I gave the order to pull
the boat's bow round, and give way on board ; when, with
my eyes fixed on the rippling, which broke the glassy sur-
face of the sea, I muttered, <c Poor Louis ! poor Louis !

I would give the world to have thee here ag ha ! what's

that? Lie on your oars !" The men turned round, and
all together exclaimed, " By God ! he is up again ! "

And so it was. My musing had been interrupted by
beholding the body rise on the surface, like a spar, which
had been hurled in the sea end foremost from a height,
when the reaction sends it back again, almost into the air,
and then it lies floating on the waters. The boat was
crowded with men, anxious to see the last of him by at-
tending his funeral, for he was a general favourite. We
were all so astonished that the cause of this re-appearance,
—to wit, the shot not being properly secured from falling
out — never once occurred to any of us. We pulled
round and hurried back to the spot, as eagerly as if it
were to rescue a drowning comrade. Indeed some of the
crew were for hauling the body into the boat, to examine
if it was not re-animated. On discovering that the ballast
had escaped from the lashings, we were at a stand- still what
to do. To leave the body afloat is sacrilege among sailors,
as depriving it of Christian burial. We had nothing but
the boat's iron grapnel, heavy enough for the purpose ; so
we were obliged to expend it. This was securely lashed,
and the body again sank, every one, I believe, anticipating
its re-appearance ; for, as one of the old man-of-war's men
sagely and oraculously observed, " I '11 be damned if all
the anchors in the dock-yard of Portsmouth would moor
that Dutch dogger under water ; because as how he never
let that stuff enter his scuppers in his life, and it arn't
natural to him, howsomever, though he be dead,"

I had laid the schooner as far on the outside of the port
as our convenience and security would permit, to be away
from the noxious vapours of the land, and to have as much
benefit from the sea-breeze as possible. Yet the malady
was spreading on board ; the symptoms of illness, and, as
it turned out, the rapidity of dissolution, being nearly

A YOUNGER SON. 383

similar to poor Louis's. During a great part of the night
I was attending to the sick ; and afterwards I was kept
awake, revolving in' my mind what was best to be done in
order to avert the pestilence from spreading ; — whether it
was not advisable, leaving my business unfinished, instantly
to proceed to some other port for provisions, fearful, if I
delayed it, that the alternative of moving or staying would
not be left to my decision. My drunken doctor had de-
serted me ; at any other period I should have been glad of
it, but I had not yet succeeded in finding another. I had
few medicines, and was unlearned in their use ; though
De Ruyter had taken pains to instruct me in so important
a part of my duty. Eight of the crew were very ill. After
consulting with the two mates, we came to this conclusion, —
to cut and run as soon as daylight appeared. I then retired,
harassed and exhausted, to recruit my strength by sleep.

At daybreak the man-of-war's man, to whom I alluded
on the previous evening, came down in the cabin, and,
disturbing me from a heavy sleep, said, C( Captain, he's
afloat again, and alongside. Is he to come aboard, sir ? "

Rubbing my glued eyelids, I answered, iC Yes, — let
him come aboard. Who is it ? "

" Why, it be he, sir."

"He! Who?"

iC The steward, sir ! "

" Steward ! What steward ? "

u Old Louis, sir."

I shook myself, and jumped up, to be certain I was
awake; and the mate continued with, " Didn't I say as
how, sir, he wo'nt lay moored under water ? "

Accompanying him on deck, he pointed out the canvass-
shrouded body of Louis lying across the schooner's bow,
seemingly supported by the cable. The men all pressed
forward to gaze in wonder and awe. At this apparently
miraculous second re-appearance, I was really as much
astounded as the crew. The grapnel had been securely
lashed, and had often held the boat in a swell, while there
had been neither sea nor wind during the night. On ex-
amination the mystery was explained : the ground-sharks
had been at work, and, by dragging and tearing, had torn

384 ADVENTURES OF

the hammock apart to get at the body, which was horribly
mauled, and from which a leg had been separated, the
canvass having protected the upper part. I now resolved
to inter the remains on shore ; but they were offensive to
handle, and I had no planks for a coffin. After some
hesitation, I could contrive nothing better than to tow the
body ashore, and inter it in a deep hole, prepared by the
second mate in the sand, above high- water mark. u For,"
said he, " if he feels the water touch him, call me a land-
lubber if he don't slip his cable, get under weigh again,
make sail, and get alongside of us, wheresomever we be ;
so I '11 give him a dry, snug berth." As this was undeni-
able, we parbuckled Louis into his shore-grave; and to
make assurance doubly sure, we hauled the broken bottom
of a wrecked boat, which lay near the spot, to cover the
grave with it, so that either from above or below, he was
secured against water.

CHAPTER XV.

'T is true they are a lawless brood,

But rough in form, nor mild in mood ;

And every creed, and every race,

With them hath found — may find a place. Byron,

Preparatory to going to sea, I called on the governor,
and merchants with whom I had business, obtained my
clearances, paid my bills and port-charges, had my papers
signed, &c. &c. ; then loading a couple of shore-boats with
all the fresh provisions I could lay my hands on, I returned
on board, fired a gun, and hoisted the signal for sailing.

We had been in port only four days, during which there
had been a dead calm. The town, like Venice, is inter-
sected by canals, which, being receptacles for all the filth
of the crowded population of the place, mud and dead dogs
were dammed up at the outlets, and this was the principal

A YOUNGER SON. 385

cause of the sickness. The interior of the island, and the
mountains close to the town, were and are very healthy ;
but the town itself is almost annually ravaged by what is,
par excellence, called the Java fever. The youngs strong,
and florid-complexioned were generally the first attacked,
and the soonest despatched. The great feeders and fat-
buttocked never escaped. I loathe greasy and haunchy
brutes, as Moses and Mahommet loathed swine, and rejoice
in their extermination — all except honest, honest Louis,
whose warm heart no mounds of suet could impede in its
free beating, or choke its generous .impulses. Gout, apo-
plexy, dropsy, and the stone, I laud, respect, and salute
with my hat off; for they are, in their nature, radicals,
the fierce slayers of kings and priests, jthe grasping wealthy
and the greedy glutton. When the parson robs the poor
cottager of his corn and tithe-pigs, though his conscience
may never prick him, his great toe often does ; and the
porkling never ceases to grunt within him, till, incorporated
on his ribs, or laying fast hold on his throat, he exhibits
apodictical indications of apoplexy. Among us, those of
the greyhound race, the broad-chested, long, limbed, bright-
eyed, gaunt, and spare-bodied, were rarely pursued or
seized on by those bloodhounds, fever and dysentery, no
matter what their habits of living were. Our carpenter, a
staunch sea-dog, drank, with measured accuracy, half a
gallon of arrack a day, and worked like a steam-engine.
You might track him along the deck by the moisture exud-
ing from him ; and though he had been thus drinking and
and toiling for years, the first to begin labour, and the last
to desist from it, the oldest man on board, and the longest
in India, his health and strength were unimpaired — as
little affected as a machine by heat and change. Day or
night he toiled on, and wondered when others grew sick,
died, and abandoned their post. He instanced me as a
chip of the same block, and fit to command, for I was
always to be found at my duty.

With my mingled, wild, and savage crew, the outcasts
of the west, and those who had lost caste in the east — men
whom the iron hand of the law could neither hold in sub-
jection nor tame, whose tiger-hearts knew no ties of kindred,
c G

S86 ADVENTURES OP

home, and country, or, if known, they were rudely rent
asunder — my duty was no sinecure. More than once my
power was in imminent jeopardy, notwithstanding De Ruy-
ter's precautions in having backed me with a force of old
and tried men of his own, the several Europeans I had
added to my crew, who were attached to me, and Zeia's
faithful and devoted Arabs ; I say, with all this, such was
the unmitigable ferocity of some of my men, that I was fre-
quently in great personal peril, and my destruction was plot-
ted. Zela, by means of the Malay girl I had bought from
her affectionate mother, and her Arabs, were my salvation,
by putting me on my guard in giving me timely notice of
every thing going on. Besides, the first mate, the Ameri-
can, was my firm friend, being bound to De Ruyter by
the strret ties of mutual interest — the only hold that man
has on man's fidelity. But we had a ruffianly set of law-
less Frenchmen, brindle-bearded privateer's men, and smug-
glers, fellows with long knives in their girdles, and of such
fiery and irascible tempers that their hands, as by instinct,
Were generally on the hafts, while their grey and assassin-
like eyes glared ferociously at the slightest provocation.
Their jealous and malignant natures ill brooked the parti-
ality they fancied I showed towards my countrymen and the
natives, and there were continual broils and civil conten-
tions on board. A leader of this gang had one day an
altercation with the American mate, who was a quiet and
somewhat timid man, and threateningly drew his knife on
him. I was in the cabin, and overheard the contention.
Having long been irritated at this man's conduct (for he
was the organ of all the refractory Frenchmen), I started
from Zela's lap, on which my head was lying, rushed on
deck, and confronted the fellow. He stood his ground
without flinching, his knife still held out. Our eyes met,
gladiator-like, in defiance, as I put my hand to draw the
small creese from my waist, exclaiming, " A mutiny ! —
seize the villain ! " We rushed on each other : he called
out to his countrymen, and there was a wild commotion.
I felt his knife on my left arm and ribs, before I could
unsheath my weapon. I made no effort to ward off the
blow, but grasped his brawny throat with one hand, and

A YOUNGER SON. 387

putting the creese behind his left shoulder, in the Malay
fashion, drove it right down through his heart, and we fell
together on a gun-carriage on the deck.

As I rose, every muscle in my body writhed, like a
wounded serpent, with rage. I killed this man, not from
the instigation of sudden passion, though in passion ; for,
young and fiery as I was, I could controul myself ; but I
had premeditated the ruffian's death, after using every
means to conciliate him. He was the boatswain, the har-
diest sailor on board, and as insensible to fear as a buffalo.
He hated the English, and I hated him on account of a
story he was in the habit of narrating with savage glee.
Once he had been mate in a small craft running between
the Isle of France and Madagascar, trading for cattle.
The vessel was captured by an English sloop of war, when
a midshipman, with five or six men, were put in charge of
her. This fellow and two of his crew were left on board,
and were imprudently permitted by the midshipman to
assist in working the vessel, instead of being confined as
prisoners. One calm midnight, the officer and most of his
men being asleep, he crept into the cabin and cut the mid-
shipman's throat ; then, assisted by the other two (one an
African), they massacred all the others, threw their bodies
into the sea, and returned to the Isle of France, glorying
in their bloody and successful atrocity. This story I had
heard him repeat on the previous night, and could scarcely
then restrain my indignation.

Stretching forth my red hand, with the dripping weapon,
I roared out to the gathering Frenchmen, who stood near-
est to me and together, " Go to your duty ! There is
your mutinous leader; — and thus will I serve all those that
dare disobey me \"

Zeis, stood by my side, holding my sword for me. Her
soft eye had changed its hue, and the fire of her race shone
in her bright glances. The disorderly Frenchmen sullenly
went forward; and the rest of the crew silently leant
about in groups. From this time my influence with the
men was considerably augmented, the growing insubordi-
nation received a check, and my youth, the principal plea
urged against me by the refractory, was forgotten.
o c 2

S88 ADVENTURES OF

CHAPTER XVI.

It was so calm, that scarce the feathery weed

Sown by some eagle on the topmost stone

Swayed in the air. Shelley.

We ran along the eastern coast for a bay, in which,
according to my chart, there was anchorage, with the
intention of procuring a supply of wood and water. We
kept as close in-shore as possible, to be within reach of the
land-winds ; but, for many days we lay stationary under
the high land, within whose dark shadows I thought
we were enchanted ; for not a breath of air reached us,
either from the land at night, or from the sea in the day.
The buoyant rubbish of chips, feathers, and rope-yarn,
thrown overboard, remained as stationary as the rubbish
cast out of a cottage door. The waters seemed petrified
into polished blue marble, tempting one to walk on their
treacherous surface. Among the few moving things around
were those little azure- tinctured children of the sea, called
Portuguese men of war, with sails light as gossamer, and
tiny paddles; they manoeuvred about us, like a fairy fleet,
the largest as big as the chrystal stopper of a decanter,
which, except in colour, they resembled. Here and there
were scattered the jellied-looking sea-stars ; and a singular
phenomenon, called the puree, which comes from the
bottom to the surface by inflating itself with air, till, from
a shrunken, withered, empty thing, it becomes round and
plumped out like a blown bladder; after this, it cannot
sink for a length of time. We amused ourselves by prac-
tising with our carbines at them ; and also by lowering the
square sail overboard to bathe in, using that method to avoid
the ground- sharks, which, in those seas, near the shore, lie
like silent watch-dogs in their submerged kennels. The
heat was so piercing, that the Raypoots, who worship the
sun, fought on the deck for a square foot of the awnings
shade. I experienced the greatest relief from anointing
my body with oil, and continually, like a duck, plunging

A YOUNGER SON. 389

my head in water ; yet my lips and skin were cracked like
a plum-tree. No vessel is so ill adapted for a hot climate
as a schooner ; she requires a great many men to work her,
and has less space than any other vessel wherein to stow
them. On coming on deck from below, the men appeared
as if they had emerged from a steam-hath.

However, calms at sea, like the calms of life, are tran-
sitory and far between ; a breeze, a squall, a gale, or a
tempest must follow, as certain as the night the day. With
us the winds came gentle as a lover's voice to woo the sleeping
canvass, not like the simoom of wedlock, and we glided
peacefully along the rich and varied scenery of the shore
to our anchorage near Balamhua, withinside the island of
Abaran. Here we found an extensive range of sandy
beach, a small river, and the wood so abundant, that the
trees seemed enamoured of salt water and sea breezes,
drooping their heads over its surface, as if they courted its
spray, and were nurtured by the briny waves laving their
roots. There was a small village of Javanese at the mouth
of the river, the chief of which, in consideration of a small
supply of powder and brandy, readily gave us permission
to procure what we wanted on shore. We landed our
empty water-casks, and began to cut wood.

The calms, the excessive heat, the closeness of the
atmosphere, all combined to spread the fever and dysentery
among the crew ; and few days passed without our losing
a man. JEther, opium, and calomel were the medicines,
by my instructions, to be applied to those attacked ; and
bark and wine to the convalescent. Something I had learnt
of the diseases of the country, yet I regretted I had not
been more attentive to Van's medical lectures. Now,
without a surgeon, I pored over one of Van's medical
books, and lamented that my old schoolmaster had not suc-
ceeded in whipping Latin into me. Horses and dogs,
thought I, are educated by beating ; and why not man,
the more obdurate and vicious animal? Latin phrases
were hieroglyphics to me. Yet I proceeded to practise,
though without wig, amber -headed cane, or stop-watch, as
a mask for gross ignorance, and turned to drugging and
drenching with as little compunction as the members of the
oo 3

3QQ ADVENTURES OF

Royal College of Physicians, who write M.D. to their
names, which, I shall ever presume, means " Man Des-
troyers."

Preparing for sea, I was amazed to hear that a fray had
happened between some of our men and the villagers. Two
of the natives had been wounded by our men firing at
them. These disputes were ever recurring in our dealings ;
nor could our tars comprehend that they were amenable to
any law while on shore. They acknowledged themselves
when shipped, bound to the articles of their duty, and
answerable for any neglect or breach of contract while on
board. They belonged to the sea; but "it is damned
hard if we can 't take our full swing on shore. We are
ready to pay for what we want, — when we have money ;
or we are ready to fight for it. For when we haven't
money, it an't natural that savages should keep all the
shore to themselves ; when it is quite sartain the land was
made for the Christians as well as the sea." This, or some
such reasoning, was all the reply I could get, from my most
orthodox Christian crew, to my frequent remonstrances on
the brutality with which they assailed, robbed, and slaugh-
tered the natives. Nor could I find a remedy for this evil ;
I restrained them as much as possible, and did what justice
was in my power, in the way of recompence, to the wronged.
In this instance the Javanese were accused of being the
aggressors; yet, though I could not arrive at the facts, I
knew some indignity must have been offered to them ; and
they are neither patient nor forgiving. Dreading therefore
some bloody retaliation, and observing they no longer came
alongside of us, while a suspension of barter and commu-
nication was highly detrimental, I took a few presents for
the chief, and went on shore in two armed boats. This
method did not succeed ; but, by going accompanied by
none but my interpreter, after much difficulty and expla-
nation, I succeeded, at least in appearance, in having
accommodated the affair, when a renewal of our friendly
intercourse took place.

When ready for sea, the chief came on board, and press-
ed me to accompany him to a hunting station, abounding
with deer and wild hogs. He had often heard me express

A YOUXGER SON. 391

a wish to go thither, but had put it off from time to time,
saying it was better to wait till the rains fell, when the
animals would be driven down from the mountains. As
there had been a violent storm on the previous night, fol-
lowed by floods of rain, his invitation seemed to be the
consequence of his former promise. 1 readily gave my
assent. He cautioned me, with great apparent sincerity,
against creating any jealous fears among his people by a
train of many armed followers. Then, with other friendly
advice on his part, we parted ; it being settled that I was to
meet him on the ensuing morning before day-light.

CHAPTER XVII.

There sat the gentle savage of the wild,

In growth a woman, though in years a child,

As childhood dates within our colder clime.

Where nought is ripenM rapidly save crime. Byro.v.

Although without fear, I did not neglect to use all proper
precautions. I went on shore the next morning with
fourteen of my trustiest men, well armed. After landing,
I ordered the boat, with a smaller one which accompanied
us, having a part of their crews, to push off from the shore,
lie at their grapnels, and, on no account, to land, or parley
with the natives.

The chief was waiting for me, attended by only four or
Ave men, armed with merely their creeses and boar-spears.
We penetrated into the interior by following the windings
of the little river, now swollen, muddy, and rapid, from
the late heavy rain. We crossed the stream several times
by fords, not without some difficulty, and I failed not to
caution our party to preserve their ammunition and arms
from getting wet. I had learnt to be watchful and suspi-
cious, and took note of several apparently trivial cir-
cumstances, which might have escaped a less wary
person. The Javanese chief frequently held conferences
c c 4

§92 ADVENTURES OF

with his men ; he sometimes wished us to cross parts of
the river which were not fordable, the bottom being muddy,
interspersed with deep holes ; and, changing the order of
our progress, he kept in the rear of the party. Upon this
I also fell back, and watched him narrowly. There was
awakened a cunning and treacherous expression in the
glistening of his small deep-set eye, which startled me.
Not to let him imagine he was mistrusted, I determined,
as we had already advanced two or three miles, to proceed
without pause, keeping near him, and carefully watching
his motions. At the same time I accurately noted our
road, the localities which marked our progress, and the
fords of the river.

I cannot remember to have ever benefited by the advice
or example of others. Nothing but a blow from the Cy-
clopean hammer of experience on my head could teach or
convince me ; and nothing less than the imminent jeopardy
in which I had placed Zela, by taking her to the tiger-
hunt, contrary to every one's advice and all prudent con-
sideration, could have induced me to leave her on board
tlie schooner, against her own urgent entreaty to accompany
me. That I now knew her to be in that safe asylum, by
removing every care and fear from my mind, seemed to
leave my whole body invulnerable. I had yielded, how-
ever, to Zela's importunities to take her little, intelligent
Malayan girl, Adoo, in whom her mistress placed implicit
confidence. Adoo neither cared nor thought about any
thing in the world but Zela. Her attachment to me was
grounded on being beloved by Zela. Adoo was nearly of
the same age as her mistress, but no two creatures could
be more dissimilar. The Malayan girl was stunted in
growth, broad and bony, low-browed, with hair coarse,
straight, and black, hanging oyer her flat tawny face, like
a wild horse's foretop. Her small and deep-set eyes, by
their unusual distance, seemed totally independent of each
other, and to have power to keep a look-out to the star-
board and larboad, the north and the south, at the same
instant. They were bright, watchful, and eager as a
serpent's, — but there ended the resemblance ; for poor
little Adoo, far from wile and guile, was the truest and

A YOUNGER SON. 3Q8

most faithful handmaiden that ever dedicated herself to a
mistress, hand and heart. I was so partial to this little
savage, that to keep her about my person, I installed her
in the high and important office of Tchibookdgee; and she
was matchless in compounding a chilan for a hooka, pre-
paring a callian, or filling a Turkish pipe, — accomplish-
ments not to be despised.

To return to my story. We continued our route by the
side of the river for about four miles, when, after ascend-
ing an abrupt and rocky eminence, our Javanese leader
proposed to stop at two or three small cane-huts, and refresh
ourselves with coffee and mangosteens, till some of the
people he had sent forward should return to inform us
where the game lay. To this I gladly acceded. My
suspicions were in a great measure dissipated, seeing no
further symptoms to corroborate those which had been
lurking in my mind. Milk, fruit, and coffee, which last is
of excellent quality in this island, were brought. Adoo,
for I was a great epicure in coffee, superintended the
making of mine. We were seated in one of the empty huts,
to screen us from the sun ; and wThilst I was smoking my
callian, the men were eating and drinking. The chief was
sitting on a mat close by me, between me and the door,
which was blocked up by Javanese. I was on the point of
putting the coffee-cup to my lips with my left hand, as I
leaned on my right, and lolled at the full stretch of my
limbs, with my head resting against one of the bamboo-
supporters of the hut, when my attention was directed to
something touching my hand. Turning to see what it
was, a low voice on the outside, but close to my ear, said,
cc Hush ! hush ! do not move ! " in such accents as
evidently indicated terror. Without moving, I glanced my
eye in the direction of the voice, and it fell on the keen
glance of Adoo, through the matting. I leaned my head
close to the spot, when she whispered in my ear, " Do
not drink the coffee ; — come out ; — bad people ! "

Some of our men had complained of sickness imme-
diately after they had drank the coffee ; and I recollected
the officiousness of the chief in serving me with it. In-
stantly it struck me it was poisoned. Happily I had

394 ADVENTURES OF

been detained from drinking it, awaiting the somewhat
tedious process of preparing, filling, and lighting my
Persian water-pipe. The chief, now at the door, was
significantly exchanging glances with his men, or every
eye was fixed on me ; their savage and malign aspects
plainly intimated their intentions. There was neither time
nor opportunity to form plans or communicate with my
men. Suspecting, which was the case, that the chief was
waiting for a reinforcement to attack us, and fearing, from
the rising commotion withoutside, they had already arrived,
and would, whilst my men were under the paralysing
effect of the poison, rush in and hutcher us, or fire the
huts, and slaughter us as we attempted to escape, I drew a
pistol, sprang up, and attempted to gain the entrance.
The chief drew his creese, and essayed to detain me. I
shot him through the body, and yelled the Arab war-cry,
calling out to the men, " We are betrayed — - follow
me ! "

So sudden had been my movement that the panic-struck
natives rushed down the bank into the jungle. Restrain-
ing my men from pursuing them, my orders were to
examine if their arms were ready for service, and to fix
their bayonets. Adoo told me, from what she had over-
heard, some fatal or stupifying drug had been administered
to the men in their coffee ; and that the chief was waiting
for a reinforcement. Many of the men were affected, com-
plaining of sickness.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Not the eagle more
Loves to beat up against a tyrannous blast
Than I to meet the torrent of my foes.
This is a brag ! —be it so ; but, if I fall,
Carve it upon my 'scutcheon 'd sepulchre. Keats' MS.

The the first danger was over, yet was our situation most
perilous. We set off, in double quick time, to regain the

A YOUNGER SON. 3$5

boats, or to get in sight of the schooner, and give signals
of our distress. We regained the river, and crossed it.
Naturally concluding the natives would lurk in ambush to
cut us off, I carefully avoided the route by which we had
advanced in the morning, and kept on the highest and the
clearest ground. By these precautions we succeeded in
retreating three parts of the distance unimpeded, but not
unobserved ; as, from time to time, we heard the wild war-
whoops of the enemy, hanging on our rear. As long as
they remained there we had little to fear. Adoo, who ran
close at my heels, kept a look-out on both sides, continually
pointing at the direction the natives were taking, with ex-
traordinary precision. As we proceeded, in addition to the
danger of becoming embogged, was the probability of being
attacked at such a disadvantage. At length arriving at an
angle of the river, with a swampy morass before us, we were
compelled to cross. Whether the strong stimulant of
fear or uncommon physical exertion had neutralized or re-
tarded the effect of the poison, or the inefficacy of the drug
itself was the cause of its effects having disappeared, I
know not ; but, after the first half-hour, I heard no more
about it.

Bent on the one momentous object of regaining our
vessel, I led the party across the river, feeling my way and
supporting myself with a boar-spear. We secured our
cartridges in our caps. The water was shallow, but vary-
ing in depth, and the passage difficult from its treacherous
coatings of soft, black, and slippery mud. Happily my-
self and five others achieved a firmer footing and shallower
water, after having with difficulty toiled along up to the
hips, when Adoo said, " Malik, they are coming ! " I
lowered my carbine to my shoulder, and called to the re-
mainder of the men to hasten on. The natives, emerging
from their ambush, gave a loud yell, fired their match-
locks, and ran tumultuously down to the river's brink. In
all savage warfare, the first shout and the first volley are
to give themselves courage to advance, and to intimidate
and panic-strike their opponents ; like yelping dogs, which
pursue what flies, but sneak from the sturdy ; therefore if
lie first aimless discharge and war-cry are unshrinkingly

3yO ADVENTURES OF

replied to and defied, the attack is rendered weak and
wavering. The Javanese, seeing we stood firm, and pre-
pared to fire on them, paused on the river's brink. Ob-
serving their hesitation we, that were in front, gave them
a volley ; and, the other men coming up, we shouted, and
advanced rapidly to the shore to charge them. They re-
treated into the jungle, and we succeeded in crossing the
ford without the loss of a man.

We hurried down the margin of the stream, the natives
following close in our rear, or flanking us, occasionally
throwing spears, firing their matchlocks, and yelling
obscure curses and threats ; to which we replied by a
prompt shot the instant any of them became visible. The
number of our pursuers was increasing, and, as we ap-
proached the sea the jungle became thinner, when Adoo
told me she saw horsemen advancing in our front. At
that moment the odour of the sea-beach, impregnated as it
was with dead weeds, rotten fish, and briny air, was in-
haled by me with far greater rapture than ever fell to the
lot of tobacco, or my favourite wines, hock, Bourdeaux,
and Tokay. I called out to my men, iC Freshen your
way, my boys, — the sea a-head ! " and they sped along to
the bank on which I stood, with more alacrity than I ever
saw them fly up the rigging to catch a view of land after a
tedious voyage. When we espied the silken, swallow- tailed
vanes, glittering on the trucks of our dark-hulled schooner,
although the hull was not visible, we gave a loud hurrah,
with a volley of muskquetry to our pursuers, and con-
sidered, somewhat prematurely, our difficulties over.

On the long line of sandy plain, bordering the sea, a
dingy and confused mass stained its surface. A loud
shout from the natives, dogging our heels, confirmed what
Adoo's hawk's eyes had first descried, and which soon be-
came distinct to us all. A body of native, and nearly
naked, horsemen approached us at speed, armed with
spears, and mounted on small, but swift and active horses.
Their number was not great; but, backed by those who
were already nearly surrounding us, they were enough to
annihilate the hopes of the wisest, and to turn the thoughts
of the best towards Heaven. But I was neither of the

A YOUNGER SON. #97

wise nor good ; all my thoughts were occupied in how best
to meet the coming danger.

A bank or bar was formed across the river, of mud and
sand ; where the salt and fresh water met, and where, in
storms, torrents from the mountains and the wild waves
joined in conflict depositing their spoils. Old trunks of
trees, and pieces of wrecked canoes were firmly imbedded
in this bank, through which the current ebbed and flowed
in narrow channels, the bottoms of which were deep on
both sides of the river. There was a sandy level, a desert
waste on our left ; close to the sea was the village, inter-
spersed with clumps of the sea-loving cocoa-nut tree; and
two or three clumps of these were dotted on our right,
intercepting our view of the schooner. We had not time
to occupy one of these groves, as the horsemen were rapidly
approaching ; I therefore promptly took possession of the
before-mentioned bar in the river. We accordingly
retreated into the water, and, with some difficulty, suc-
ceeded in establishing ourselves on the sandy ridges, having
a good footing, and the water not deeper than the knees.
The bank itself, with the rubbish on it, made a breast-
work. I would have also occupied the opposite side, but
our party was too small to be divided. I had still my
fourteen men, two or three indeed slightly wounded, but
not incapacitated from using their fire-arms. Besides other
arms each man had a musket and bayonet, and our car-
touch-boxes were nearly full ; for I had economised our
ammunition, on which, I knew, every thing depended.

CHAPTER XIX.

That Saracenic meteor of the fight!

'Tis a gallant enemy.
How like a comet he goes streaming on. Keats' MS.

Shrieking and yelling, our foes advanced. We crouched
down in silence. These wild and savage-looking horsemen

Jyb ADVENTURES OF

were led on by their prince, mounted on a little fiery
courser of a bright red colour, with a mane and tail flying
in the air like streamers in a gale. The rider was the
only one of the band turbaned, clothed, and armed from
head to heel. His tattooed and stained features seemed
on fire with impatience to begin the slaughter. The
energetic ferocity with which he glanced at our small
numbers reminded me of our Borneo friend running a
muck. The horse, inspired by the fiend on his back, kept
in perpetual and rapid motion. The prince dashed in the
water, fired a pistol at one, threw a lance at another,
sprang to the shore, led on the horsemen, wheeled round,
yelled at those skulking on shore, drove those on foot with
his sword into the river, crossed it himself, recrossed,
headed the natives on foot, and then resumed his place,
leading, urging, and forcing the horsemen on us ; while his
horse, foaming and panting, did not for an instant slacken
his rapid, springy, and mazy motions. Following him
with my eye, and with my carbine resting on the bulk of
a tree, behind which I was screened, I fired several shots
at him ; but in vain, — a swallow in the air, or a sea-gull
riding on a wave, tempest-rocked, would have been as
difficult a mark. Yet so favourable was the position we
held for defence, and so cool and well-directed the fire we
kept up, that all the efforts of the natives, impelled on by
their meteor-like prince, were unable to dislodge us. But
our ammunition was nearly expended; two men were killed,
and others of our little band incapacitated by wounds. On
the other hand, we had made great havoc amongst the
natives, whose exposed situation gave us great advantage.
The cavalry, who acted with the highest intrepidity, dash-
ing into the river both above and below us, suffered severely
from our fire ; but more from the heavy mud on one side,
and the deep holes, sunken trees, and spars on the other.
Besides, except their prince, they had no fire-arms ; but
his devil's spirit seemed to be infused in them, and their
screams were terrific. However, they could not reach us
with their spears, and we slaughtered them in security. It
was only by destroying them, or thinning their number,
that we could hope to escape.

A "FOUNGER SON. 399

The time at which it was indispenable to make a desper-
ate effort to land, and endeavour to regain the beach, was
at hand. Luckily for us, the only passable ford at this
point was where the horsemen could not, from the nature
of the ground, oppose us, though a host of villagers with-
stood our passage. In this predicament, worn with toil,
and almost exhausted, I cautiously, one by one, drew my
men to the opposite bank, which, when perceived by the
natives, they gathered down, and closed on us. The horse-
men, whose number was greatly diminished, galloped off
towards the sea, as I concluded, to cross and cut off our
retreat. We were under the painful necessity of leaving
two of the wounded. The first man who landed was
killed by a stone from a sling, which was driven into the
skull ; so that our party was now reduced to nine, in-
cluding myself. To quench their burning thirst, the men
had drank freely of the brackish wrater of the stream, which
had made them sick ; and their standing in the water,
under the piercing rays of the sun, had so affected them,
that, on their landing, they staggered about as if they were
drunk.

It was still about a mile to the sea. Keeping close
together, we left the ford, and, skirting the river's bank,
proceeded onwards. The natives crossed, and dogged our
heels in multitudes, which obliged us occasionally to halt,
and check their advance by a volley. At last we opened a
view of the schooner's hull, and the drooping and stagger-
ing men breathed a new life. Our hopes were now san-
guine, when a cloud of sand uprose before us, which,
partially withdrawn by the wind, exhibited to our view
the vampy re-prince, and his bright-red, fiery, and foaming
horse, looming through the vapoury mirage of the dazzling
wrhite sand, like a centaur.

A small cluster of palms, shadowing the roofless ruins
of a mud hut, stood to our left : all around was a sandy
waste. To reach this spot was our only hope : thither we
ran for our lives, panting as if our hearts would burst, and
threw ourselves over the walls of the hut. One of our
wounded fell from exhaustion on the road. Hearing a
yell, I looked behind^ and saw the malignant prince riding

400 ADVENTURES OP

over his body, and endeavouring to trample him to death.
He then jumped from his horse, and, as if disdaining to
use his sword, smashed the man's skull with the butt of
his matchlock or musket, sprang on his horse, yelled to
his men, and rode to within a hundred yards of us. The
horsemen then separated, and galloped round and round
the hut, till, nearing us, they hurled their lances, which
we returned with a volley. Two or three of the best shots,
with myself, singled out the prince, when I observed his
horse swerve round, and go off with a staggering gait,
while a plume of the bird of Paradise in his turban was
scattered in the air. I thought our comrade's death avenged;
but no such thing : the prince pulled up, dismounted, shook
himself, and after surveying his steed, remounted, and was
again in motion ; but his ardour appeared to be somewhat
cooled.

We now had but a cartridge or two a-piece, and were
completely surrounded. Desponding, and well nigh ex-
hausted, we prepared to sell our lives dearly by desperately
sallying out. I thought of death — it seemed inevitable.
De Ruyter crossed my mind ; but Zela's image drove him
away, and totally engrossed all my thoughts, which were
sad, for I believed they were my last.

The back of the hut was high, and, under its shelter,
the natives had approached close to us. We smelt fire,
and drove a hole in the wall, with our bayonets, when we
beheld they had gathered dry reeds and bushes, and had
fired it. We drove them off; but to extinguish the flames
was out of our power. In the front of the hut there were
palnf-trees, surrounded by a hedge of vacoua, a strong,
prickly, impervious fence. I had several times reproached
myself for not having occupied this spot in preference to
the hut, being equally secure against the horse, and giving
us room to act, with a better view of the proceedings of
the natives. Luckily, the front of the hut formed one
side of this enclosure, to which it opened as to a court-
yard, and had therefore prevented the natives from entering
it. The Javanese prince was impelling the savages to
close in, and oppose our leaving the hut. My men had
been murmuring at the predicament into which I had led

A YOUNGER SON. 40 J

them,, and followed my injunctions hesitatingly and tardily
to form themselves outside the hut in line5 to drive the
enemy, now close upon us, hack with the bayonet.

CHAPTER XX.

Because I think my lord, he is no man,

But a fierce demon 'nointed safe from harm. Keats' MS.

At that moment the low thundering sound of a heavy gun
seawards saluted our ears,— it was the schooner's! Its
effect was magical ; my glowing and desponding men
brightened up, threw their caps in the air, and wildly gave
tongue like a pack of hounds. It was the signal of succour
nigh, — a sound that restored the dead to life. Another
gun was fired ; and while the natives were astounded at
its echo from the jungle and the hills, we rushed out
amongst them, drove them panic-struck before us, and
threw ourselves under cover of the palms. With a busy
and cheerful alacrity the men took up their appointed
stations, and, shaking hands, swore to defend themselves
against ail odds. Yet still the foiled barbarians were forced
upon us by their prince and leader, who, with unslackened
courage, urged on his reeking horse from point to point.
We had but five or six cartridges remaining amongst us,
and trusted alone to our bayonets. The natives, observing
that no succour was near us, and that our fire was dis-
continued, advanced close to the prickly hedge, and wounded
several of our men through the branches. In reality, our
situation was more hopeless than ever ; but most of the ,
horsemen had gone towards the sea, and the prince could
not induce his followers to assault us, so much had they
already suffered, or we should have fallen an easy prey. I
began to imagine, what all my men had long believed, that
the prince was the evil spirit, and invulnerable.

Thus encircled like a scorpion girt with fire, we had

D D

402 ADVENTURES OF

passed nearly an hour, — it seemed a thousand ! — when my
attention was directed to the margin of the sea by the Ja-
vanese, who all turned that way, and simultaneously yelled.
Instantly I heard a fire of musketry, and a cloud of
doubt, hanging over my mind, was dispelled. They were
my crew, coming to our rescue. Our first impulse was to
rush out and join them ; but we could not abandon the
wounded. We shouted, and when I saw, by the crowd
of natives collected in front of us, that our men were ap-
proaching in the right point, up the bank of the river, and
as soon as we caught a glimpse of the scarlet- capped Arabs,
I gave signal of our position by firing my carbine ; upon
which I distinctly heard the war-cry of my Arabs. The
prince, with his now diminished troopers, was galloping
and wheeling about them ; but I knew, by the continued
and heavy fire, there was a force sufficient to repel any
effort he might make. Yet did this undaunted leader,
who, by the swarms gathered around him, seemed to have
been reinforced, dispute with wonderful pertinacity their
advance, so that they were frequently compelled to halt
and fire. At length they approached the bank of the river
on our flank, and, spreading in two bodies, advanced to
our position. The natives retreated ; and in my impa-
tience, I sprung over the enclosure, cap in hand, cheering
my gallant crew ; when, ere I had proceeded half way to
them, a light and bounding figure, with her loose vest and
streaming air flying in the wind, and in speed like a swal-
low, — (but oh ! how infinitely more welcome than that
harbinger of spring and flowers !) — came all my joy, my
hope, my happiness, my Zela ! She sprung into my arms;
we clasped each other in speechless ecstacy, and there
thrilled through my frame a rapture that swelled my heart
and veins almost to bursting. The rude seamen forgot
their danger, and looked on not unmoved. This, in an
instant, was followed by, — " what cheer, captain?" —
iC where are our messmates ?" — and more vociferous cries
and questions from Zela's Arabs, mingled, from a multi-
tude of voices, with shouts and blaspheming threats against
ihe Javanese.

Assisting our wounded along, we regained the bank of

A YOUNGER SOX. 403

the river, and continued our march to the shore in good
order, small bodies of the natives hovering about us, but
not impeding our progress. The prince and the main
body of the armed natives were in advance of us, seemingly
with the purpose of disputing our embarkation, or attack-
ing the boats previously to our arrival. This urged us on,
for I knew the schooner lay too far out to cover the boats
with her guns ; but my second mate told me he had or-
dered the boats to lie out at their grapnels, and that the
long-boat had a carronade in it. We were worn out with
hardship, suffering from hunger, and more from thirst.
Zela alone, as a child of the desert, had thought of bring-
ing water, which had been given to the wounded. The
boats were evidently kept from the shore by the armed
natives on the beach. The schooner was in sight, and
getting under way to run nearer in. As we approached
the beach, I drew up my men, broke the throng before us
with a volley, and drove through them with the bayonet ;
when the boats pushed in to the mouth of the river, and
we succeeded in getting the wounded into them. But, as
the men were following, the natives renewed their attack,
and several of our men were killed in disorderly skirmishes
in the water. The long-boat, full of men, was fast grounded
in the mud, and the melee was hand to hand. The creeses
of the natives were better weapons than our muskets ;
besides, our cartridge-boxes were full of water, and the
confusion was so great, there being neither order nor com-
mand, that we were in imminent peril. We could not
stand on the slimy bottom of the water, stained with mud,
and incrimsoned with blood, and, in struggling, the men
fell, when the natives stabbed them under water. Having
placed Zela in the long-boat, aided by two or three steady
men, the natives crowding round and holding on the gun-
wale, we discharged the carronade loaded with grape-shot.
This made them pause, and gave our men time to rally.
A second discharge cleared a space on the beach, and en*
abled us to get the boats afloat.

I was standing in the bow of the boat, with the match
in my hand ; the bow was hanging on a sand-bank, whence
the men were shoving her. The natives were scattered,
d d 2

404 ADVENTURES OF

and flying in terror of the cannon, and the beach was
strewed with dead and dying, when the invulnerable prince,
with unabated fury, headed, and led on half a dozen horse-
men, who stopped on seeing the engine, whose roar they
so much dreaded, pointing directly on them. Turning
round, the prince spoke some energetic words to them ;
then, with a shout, and an expression of scorn and daring,
he forced his bright red horse along the sand-bank, up to
the bow of the boat, point-blank before the gun. I blew
the match, and touched the priming, — it did not ignite.
The prince dashed his turban in my face, and discharged
a pistol at me. Whilst I was staggering from the shock,
Zela promptly grasped the match, which had dropped from
my hand, and fired the gun. A wailing scream arose along
the beach from the Javanese. A wounded horse was madly
plunging and trampling on his now prostrate rider, — but
that was not the prince. Further on, just on the margin
of the red surge, lay a mass of mutilated remains, huddled
darkly together ; — a human leg and a horse's, hands and
hoofs, the garments of a man and the garniture of a horse,
blackened with powder, and red with blood. Yet was
there enough to identify the best horse that warrior ever
mounted, and the most heroic warrior that ever led to
battle.

CHAPTER XXI.

A little shallop, floating there bard by,

Pointed its beak over the fringed bank ;

And soon it lightly dipt, and rose, and sank,

And dipt again with the young couple's weight. Keats.

I felt myself severely wounded, without knowing where
the ball had entered. Unable to move my lower extremi-
ties, a dull and torpid sensation crept throughout my frame.
On looking downwards, I saw that my garments, from the
right side to the hip, were rent and stained with powder,

A YOUNGER SON. 405

and that my loose cotton trowsers were on fire. No
bleeding could be discerned. I lay down on the thwarts
of the boat, now afloat, and, the natives having entirely
discontinued their opposition, we left the shore. The
schooner was standing in, keeping up a desultory fire over
the beach. With returning sensibility, the heavy and be-
numbing torpor was succeeded by excruciating agony.
They laid me in the after-part of the boat. Zela bent over
me, and tried, with gentle words and soothing attentions,
to assuage my agony. "Zela!" I said, — u my good
spirit ! — tell me, was that our evil fate that struck at my
life ? — was it Azrael, the red angel of death ? — has he
wounded me mortally ? "

i( Bis Allah I" she answered, " the good spirit paralysed
the warrior's arm, when he aimed at your life. God is
strong, and we are weak. Death strikes the trunk, and
not the limbs."

The ball had entered just below my right groin, inclin-
ing downwards, the prince having been considerably above
me when he fired. The pain augmented, but the wound
did not bleed ; and it was not a consolatory reflection at
the time that we had no surgeon on board. I was hoisted
on the schooner's deck, carried down into the cabin, and
laid on the couch. The prince had been so close to me
that a large portion of the powder had apparently en-
tered with the ball, and torn and scarified the surrounding-
flesh, which was black and livid. Zela applied the yolks
of raw eggs over the wound to draw out the powder ; —
an Eastern remedy, and certainly effectual. Nothing was
done after this but washing with hot wine and laying on
poultices. For four or five days and nights the pain was
immitigable ; except, which I have always experienced
with gun-shot wounds, that it was more severe from noon
till sun-rise ; and no Raypoot ever watched and worshipped
the first ray of the rising luminary of day so devoutly as
I did. For twelve days I ate nothing, living, like the
whale, on suction. What is the strongest impressed on
my memory is the unparalleled devotion and unwearied
attention of Zela, wTho, I really believe, suffered mentally
more than I did bodily. A friend of our own sex cannot
d d 3

406

ADVENTURES OP

pass through the ordeal of attendance on a sick couch.
Friends shrink from the trial ; they will share danger, —
nay, more, their purses, — they may give their aid, their
counsel, and their pity ; but they cannot sympathise with
one in sorrow or sickness. No, it is the woman who
loves, — she alone can soothe, watch with exhaustless
affection and patience, endure the waywardness of mind
and the vexatious absurdity which arise from sickness or
sorrow. Can the friendship of man, however ardent and
sincere, be compared with the idolatry with which women
give up soul and body to the man consecrated by their
virgin affections ? Friendship is founded on necessity ; it
must be planted and cultured with care ; it flourishes only
on particular soils : whilst love is indigenous throughout
the world. Friendship, like bread, is the staff of our ex-
istence ; but love is the origin and perpetuator of existence
itself. Can I think of Zela's care and watchfulness during
my sufferings, without digressing on the matchless love of
women ? If there is a portion I would snatch from the
gloomy abyss of my past life to live over again, it should
be that month in which I lay wounded, pained, and help-
less, nursed with far deeper love than that of the fondest
mother when she watches the symptoms of disease, or re-
turning health, over her first-born child.

It should have been remarked, that when we got on
board, we lost no time in hoisting in the boats and moving
directly out to sea, keeping a north-east course, anxious
to hasten our junction with the grab, and to have the ad-
vantage of Van Scolpvelt's surgical skill. At that time I
had not learnt, what experience has since convinced me of,
that, in nine cases out of ten, in gun-shot wounds, a sur-
geon, however skilful, is of little advantage. The probe
and plug are discarded ; blood enough to avert inflamma-
tion generally proceeds from the wound ; a few poultices,
cleanliness, and bandages are all that nature requires. With
healthy and un corrupted constitutions, nature must be left
to use her own inscrutable and wondrous power of healing,
recruiting, joining, dovetailing, and glueing. As I re-
covered, I cannot forget the wolf-like greediness with which
I ravenously preyed on a piece of lamb. No words can

A YOUNGER SON. 407

express the relish with which I gnawed and crunched, with
keen eye and sharp tooth, the very bones. The day after
Zela brought me the shoulder of a small kid roasted. It
was at noon, and my imagination had been gloated all the
morning exclusively on the dinner hour. On its being
placed before me, I exclaimed, " My God ! is this all ?
Now I find the loss of poor Louis ! He would not have
given me the fragment of a starved kid, — he would have
roasted the entire mother, with the kid as a garnish ! "

As my appetite returned, my strength was gradually re-
stored; and, with the dignified addition of crutches, I
resumed my duty on deck. One of our wounded died,
certainly not from the effect of his wound, which was but
a scratch, but from the lingering effects of the drug in the
coffee, with which he had greedily drenched himself. His
comrades, for a long time, complained of the Javanese
poison ; but their disorder, I believe, arose from their
taking the medicine I had prescribed for the sick, ■ — wine.
A steady sea-breeze, a moderate temperature, and the me-
thodical regularity of a sea-life, dispelled fever and dysen-
tery, and restored my men to health.

A few words will explain the cause of our receiving the
timely succour in Java. Zela, with her younger hand-
maiden, had embarked in a small canoe, fancifully deno-
minated her barge, and had pulled along the shore to a
sheltered nook, where she might indulge in her favourite
recreation of swimming. This had been our diurnal
habit, and we were almost amphibious. De Ruyter, at
the Isle of France, used to compare me to a shark, and
Zela, clothed in striped cotton, to the little blue and white
pilot-fish, while she was preceding me in the water, or
floating on the surface. At this time, as she was swim-
ming, she caught the sound of musketry, borne by the
land-wind, and conveyed along the sheltered and unbroken
surface of the sea ; it was distant, low, and indistinct. At
first she naturally concluded we were at our sport ; but,
she said, an indefinable presentiment of evil had crept on
her mind. She dressed herself hurriedly: her first im-
pulse was to land, and trace the noise to its source ; but
reflection forbade her following her inclination, and she

408 ADVENTURES OF

paddled the canoe along the beach, towards the mouth of
the river j where she had observed the boats were lying, but
they were not there. The report of guns then became
more distinct ; and her exquisite sense of hearing enabled
her to distinguish the sound of my carbine, by its sharp
ajnd ringing report. Soon after she faintly distinguished
the shouts of the natives, which she discovered to be those
of war, not of hunting. Hastening on board, she told the
mate her fears. He went up to the mast-head, and there
caught a glimpse both of the advancing cavalry, and the
detached parties of Javanese hurrying from the village.
The boats were luckily alongside, the long-boat having the
gun in it for the protection of the woodcutters when on
shore ; they were quickly manned and armed. In spite
of every remonstrance, Zela peremptorily insisted on ac-
companying them ; and, by being conversant in savage
warfare, with unerring sagacity directed the party, which
otherwise would not have arrived in time ; so that I may
justly call her the angel of my fate.

CHAPTER XXII.

Here the earth's breath is pestilence, and few
But things whose nature is at war with life —
Snakes and ill worms — endure its mortal dew. Shelley.

What with calms and squalls treading on each other's
heels, pursuing the vessels of all nations which awakened
the smallest hopeof proving lawful prizes, and flying from
those for which we were no match, ours was no idle life,
— nor was it unprofitable. In India I had always seen
those in power make that power subservient to their in-
terests and passions ; and thus is it ever with men, unless
they are muzzled and chained like dogs, as is wisely enacted
in some parts of Europe. I had acquired these rabid pro-
pensities, and my power to do wrong was only limited by
my means. The gulf of Siam and the Chinese seas long
resounded with the depredations of the schooner ; and the

A YOUNGER SON. 409

approach of the horrid hurricanes and water-spouts, so
prevalent there, were less dreaded than the sight of our
long, low hull ; yet, like the devil, we were not of quite
so murky a hue as represented. Having faithfully nar-
rated, in my previous history, particular instances of our
acts and manner of life, selected from my private journals,
I shall add wings to my story, by avoiding henceforth
minute details, leading to endless repetition, and the me-
thodical dulness contained in that book of lead, — I mean,
a ship's log-book.

We first touched at the island of Caramata for water.
Our stowage being principally occupied by plunder, leaving
but a narrow space for water, our avarice was often bitterly
punished by the severest torture human nature can sustain,
when we have been severally limited to a daily modicum
of three half pints, or less, of foul and fermenting water ;
yet, nauseous as it was, the most avaricious among us
would have freely exchanged his share of the booty for an
unlimited draught. My idea then of perfect happiness
was a plunge in a lake of clear, cold water ; — a river
seemed too small to satisfy my insatiable thirst. We wTere
in this horrible state of drought when we put into Cara-
mata, where we obtained a plentiful supply of water, fruit,
and poultry, upon which we renewed our course.

One of the rendezvous for meeting with the grab was in
the vicinity of the Philippine Islands. Keeping along the
north-east coast of Borneo, we boarded a large Chinese
junk, off two burning islands. One of these islands was
very small, and shaped like an inverted cone ; the smooth
edges of the crater were gilded with fire, whence arose a
steady column of thin vapour, with occasional sparks. This
seemed to be connected by a shoal, probably formed by the
lava, to the larger island, which had no fire on its shaggy
summit, was of the colour and form of a Persian's cap, and,
from a jagged mouth below its top, thick volumes of black
smoke were puffed out at intervals. The quarter-master
said, <e Look at that lubberly, lazy Turk ! what a cool birth
he has got, squatting in the sea, to smoke his water-pipe !"
I laughed at the fanciful, and not inapplicable comparison .
The junk was densely crowded with Chinese, migrating to

410 ADVENTURES OP

Borneo as settlers. I bartered some birds'-nests for fresh
provision s, ducks, hogs, and fruit, and left the living cargo
unmolested to proceed on their voyage.

Some nights after this we were dreadfully alarmed at
grazing on a sand-bank. Luckily, there was little wind,
and we escaped without any apparent damage ; for, had it
been blowing weather, we should have been wrecked. We
made the island of Palawan, and brought up in tolerable
anchorage off Bookelooyant Point, under the shelter of a
group of small islands. Here we remained for two days,
and, seeing nothing of De Ruyter, I got under way, and
steered a northerly course, till I made our second rendez-
vous, at an island called the Sea-horse. It was uninhabited;
and in a certain spot, the situation of which De Ruyter had
particularly described, after considerable trouble in search-
ing, I found a letter which he had promised to leave for
me, with his further instructions, in the event of his not
meeting me there. By this I was directed to run in a
parallel line of latitude, therein set down, till I got sight of
the coast of Cochin China. I acted accordingly.

Hitherto every thing went on well on board; the
weather was remarkably clear and fine, with nights so
shining and delightfully cool, that I generally passed them
on deck, reading with Zela, or listening to Arab tales. We
had been some days becalmed off an island called Andra-
das, to the westward of which we were slowly drifting,
from an under- current, when we observed indications of
an approaching change of weather. There was a breathless
stillness in the atmosphere, which was thick with heavy
dew: the island became veiled, its outline shadowy and
indistinct, the sun seemed blood-shot, and its dimensions
considerably augmented ; it had lost its wonted fire, and
the eye might gaze on it un dazzled : the stars were visible
long before their hour ; they appeared nearer to the sea,
and resembled moons, but lustreless. This dismal and
melancholy prelude was frightfully reflected in the water,
and on the dark faces of my native crew. It was with
difficulty that I aroused them from their torpor, to prepare
for the battle which it was evident we should soon be com-
pelled to fight with the wild winds and waves.

A YOUNGER SON. 411

CHAPTER XXIII.

"Whilst above the sunless sky,

Big with clouds, hangs heavily,

And behind the tempest fleet

Hurries on with lightning- feet,

Riving sail and cord and plank,

Till the ship has almost drank

Death from the o'er-brimming deep. Shelley.

The men aloft were sending down the light masts and
yards; we on deck were clewing up the sails, and the
Arabs and natives drowned their fears in noise and bustle.
I watched eagerly all around the horizon : its grey, misty
hues were every instant denser and darker. Casting my
eyes upwards, a ball of fire, which I thought was a shoot-
ing-star, descended perpendicularly from above us, as we
lay becalmed and motionless, into the sea, close to our
quarter, making the same sort of noise in the water as a
red-hot cannon ball. At the same moment the skies were
rent asunder with an appalling crash : our vessel shook as
if she had struck upon a rock : rain, wind, lightning, and
thunder burst over our heads all together, and the sea was
lashed up into huge dark billows. The storm, happily,
took us right aft; and, under bare poles, with wild and
resistless force, rapid as lightning, it drove us before it.
Having weathered the first shock, and there being sea- room,
we soon recovered from our consternation, and the gale
settled in the north-east. We got the storm-sails up, that
we might be enabled to bring her to the wind, when the
first fury of the gale was spent. Ours was a matchless
sea- boat ; and, having secured every thing snugly on boards
we carefully luffed her up to the wind, and lay to, with a
close-reefed fore-storm-staysail. The sky was of a pitchy
darkness, the sea white with foam.

I went down in the cabin to see, by the chart, as well as
under such circumstances it was possible, where we were,
when I heard a general shout on deck. Wondering what
it could mean, I jumped up the hatchway, and, speechk ss
with astonishment, beheld a large ship coming up slap on

412 ADVENTURES OF

our weather quarter. She was scudding under bare poles.
It was evident she had seen us ; and I distinguished the
face of a man holding a lantern over her how, when we
were asked, through a speaking trumpet, what we were,
and then we heard, — ec Schooner, a-hoy ! — strike, or we
will sink you ! " Instantly all was in commotion on the
deck of the frigate, for such I made her out to be, getting
her guns out, and preparing to use them. My surprise
prevented my replying, and it was not till her long tier of
heavy cannon swept by us, so near that she actually with
her main-shrouds grazed our jib boom, and till a voice
again bellowed out, — " Do you strike ? " — that I gained
my presence of mind, and, calling out, — Ci Put the helm
up ! " — we bore away, till I got the wind on my quarter.
Several guns wrere fired at us. Our only hope wTas in more
canvass on the schooner; and as soon as she felt it, and
found herself released from the restraint under which she
had laboured, with her head to the sea, groaning and stag-
gering from the tremendous blows of the waves, she flew
like a greyhound when let slip at its prey. She dashed
madly through the crests of the foaming billows, which
hissed and fumed as if boiling, and left in her wrake a line
of sparkling light like a meteor in the heavens, brighter
from being contrasted with the blackness of the night.

While congratulating myself on our escape, the man
looking out on our fore-rigging (for the fore-part of the
deck was swept clean by every sea) called out, — " The
frigate a-head ! " We had just time to put the helm up
again, when we swept by a ship, which I saw, by a dim
lantern on her poop, was not the fiigate, but a larger
vessel. We had scarcely cleared her before we crossed the
bow of another, and then another. I was bewildered. The
mate said wildly and fearfully, — ( ' These be no real ships,
sir, — but the e Flying Dutchman ! ' ,; To which the
quarter-master answered, — " I'll be damned if it be, —
it be a China fleet/' The truth of this instantly flashed
across my mind ; — it was the homeward-bound Canton
fleet.

When well to leeward of them, we again hauled our
wind, and lay to, till daylight should appear. After a

A YOUNGER SON. 413

dreadful night of anxiety, perplexity, and peril, the dark-
ness, which I thought had lasted an eternity, slowly disap-
peared ; and lurid streaks of light, "betokening a tempestuous
day, barely enabled me to take a survey of the dim and
narrow circle of the horizon. What a change a single day
had made ' On the previous morning a child's paper boat
might have swum securely, and now these English ships of
colossean size, compared to which we must have appeared
a nutshell, were madly tossed about. Every wave, like a
mountain, threatened to overwhelm them. Lashed up by
the wind, the sea seemed boiling; and the frothy scum,
formed on its surface, filled the air like a snow-storm. The
old weather-beaten quarter- master, who had hold of the
helm, as with his horny hand he wiped off the spray which
was flying over him, and mingled with the tobacco juice
down his grisly beard, said, — iC Mayhap old Neptune's
Mis 'ess wants a cup of tea this morning, and has boiled
the water, and belike will sarve herself out of those three
tea-chests. Three ! — ay, — my wife always turned in
in three spoonsful, — one for 1, one for her, and t'other
for the pot."

The three East-Indiamen, which were from twelve to
fifteen hundred tons, seemed to have suffered considerable
damage. They were lying to, awaiting, as I conjectured,
the coming up of their consorts ; for it was evident they
were part of the convoy I had encountered in the night :
consequently, concluding I was now both ahead and to lee-
ward of them all, it was necessary I should get the weather-
gage before the men-of-war came up, in order to be safe
from their pursuit when the violence of the storm should
abate. Accordingly, taking advantage of the lull, which
generally occurs at break of day, under our storm-sails we
hauled our wind. I have said a better sea-boat never
floated than ours : all our light spars were secured on deck,
the hatchways and ports were battened down, and, being free
from lumber, and in the best trim, we floated on the wild
seas in comparative ease as well as security ; whilst the huge
and unwieldy Indiamen, high out of water, and lumbered
up within and without, looked like any thing but swans on
a lake. As the light became stronger, the horizon was

414' ADVENTURES OF

enlarged ; the sun, though at times obscured by dark mas-
ses of rapidly-passing clouds, pierced with its wandering
beams the vapours hanging over the sea, and I was enabled,
with a powerful telescope, to count seven other vessels,
among which the most prominent was a line-of-battle ship,
distinguished by her broad pennant as the commodore. She
was making signals, as I apprehended, to the frigate from
which I had so miraculously escaped — thanks to the gale.
Sweeping my glass round the horizon to windward, I ob-r
served the frigate bearing down to the leeward ships,
seemingly to assist those which had suffered most, the
weather ships having borne up and congregated to leeward,
except one solitary bark, whose white and reduced main-
topsail could alone be distinguished, in the very eye of the
wind, or, as sailors say, dead to windward. She, too,
altered her course, but not in the track, of the others, her
object appearing to be to keep near them, but not to go
amongst them. I watched her intently: the cut of her
sails, her taunt masts, the celerity of her manoeuvres, and
the velocity with which she moved, proved her a ship of
war, yet every thing denoted she was not English.

(( Take the glass/' I said to the old quarter-master, " I
can't make out what the devil craft that is. She is altering
her course, and coming down on us : we must wear round,
and show her our stern. Well, what do you make her
out to be, quarter-master ?

" Why, sir," replied the old seaman, " did you never
see in the Indies three fore-and-aft sails such as she car-
ries ? I larnt that cut when I sarved in a New York
pilot-boat, and I cut that there canvass, as sartain as my
name be Bill Thompson ! "

" What ! " I exclaimed, « is it the grab ? "

" Sartainly it be," says Bill.

A YOUNGER SON. 415

CHAPTER XXIV.

Blow, swiftly blow, thou keel- compelling gale!

Till the broad sun withdraws its lessening ray j

Then must the pennant-bearer slacken sail,

That lagging barks may make their lazy way. Byron.

The welcome news spread through the schooner, and joy
beamed from every eye. In an hour she came up alongside
of us, when we gave a simultaneous cheer, that arose above
the noise of the still undiminished gale. My pleasure was
indescribable, heightened at its being unexpected and op-
portune. As no boat could live in the sea, we could only
communicate by our private code of signals, by which I
was directed to keep close to the grab, and follow her mo-
tions.

The gale continued steadily blowing out of the Gulf of
Siam, drifting the convoy down towards Borneo. We fol-
lowed De Ruyter, as he edged down on them. I observed
that most of the merchant-ships had suffered more or less
damage : one of them had lost her foremast, which, as we
afterwards were informed, had been struck by lightning,
when twelve or fourteen men were killed : the commodore
had her in tow. Another had lost her topmast and jib-
boom : being a heavy sailer, she was a long way to leeward,
and the frigate, under much canvass, considering the
weather, was towing her. The other ships were uniting
their efforts to keep together, and assist each other : while
De Ruyter practised successively every nautical expedient
to harass and divide them, in which, with reckless effron-
tery, I aided and abetted. Day and, night we hung on
them, like wolves on a sheep-fold, kept at bay by the watch-
dogs. Our superiority in sailing gave us the power of
annoyance ; but, besides the men-of-war, the greater por-
tion of the merchant-company's ships overmatched us in
number of men and weight of metal, carrying from thirty
to forty guns, and from a hundred and fifty to three hun-
dred men. Nevertheless, we impeded their progress so
much by day with both feigned and real attacks, and de-
ceived them so much at night by false signals with guns

416

ADVENTURES OF

and lights, that they made every effort to destroy or get rid
of us. The frigate gave chase to us alternately ; but though
she was a strong ship, and was handled in the most masterly
and seamanlike manner, all her attempts were vain. My
temerity frequently put the schooner in jeopardy : once, as
she pursued me, out-carrying me with sail, I should ine-
vitably have fallen into her hands, if her jib-boom and
fore-topmast had not gone by the board, as she had opened
a fire on me from her bow-chasers. Thus we succeeded
in embarrassing and impeding the convoy, in despite of
their strenuous and unwearied exertions to keep together,
we being favoured by the islands, banks, and rocks scat-
tered on their lee, towards which the continuance of the
gale, aided by the swell and current, combined to drive
them. The ship which the frigate had occasionally in tow,
when deprived of that aid by our keeping her incessantly
on the alert, had drifted far astern and to leeward. As the
sun set, De Ruyter was alongside of us, considerably ahead
of the fleet. He said —

" In twenty-four hours this gale will have expended its
strength, not the less violent, in the mean time, on that
account. To-night we will make our last effort, which
shall be to cut off that sternmost ship. I will prevent the
frigate from succouring her till sunset : then she can be of
no avail. I will come to windward of you. At nightfall,
do you get in her wake, and you shall find me near you."

With words to this effect De Ruyter left me ; and, with
even more than his wonted audacity, ran in among the con-
voy, undauntedly exchanging shots with several of the
largest. By the rapidity of his movements he kept the
frigate continually on the alert. The Indiamen looked like
Chinese junks ; and, for the most part, were manned with
those outcast, miserable wretches, Lascars. Such a one
was the dismasted ship, which De Ruyter and myself,
having successfully detached her from the convoy, doubted
not would be our prize.

England may be justly proud of her gallant seamen,
hardy, fearless, and weather-beaten as the rocks on her own
iron-bound coast. The wealth of a single island, paltry
and insignificant in itself, maintains more effective ships of
war at sea than all Europe combined. To this, however,

A YOUNGER SON. 417

every thing is sacrificed. Yet it is a singular fact that her
vessels engaged in commerce are, without exception, from
those employed in the most distant parts to the coasters,
the most unsightly, dirtiest, and heaviest sailers in the
world, and, during the war, the worst manned, for then
the navy impressed all the able seamen. Owing to the in-
judicious law by which the tonnage duties are levied, from
the measurement of the length of kelston and breadth of
beam, not by the tonnage a ship may actually contain, the
merchant-ship-builder's study is to diminish the weight of
the duty. This they accomplish by continuing the breadth,
with little diminution, from the stem to the stern, by pro-
jecting the upper works, and sinking the hold to the depth
of the well on the desert ; so that, by the absurd measure-
ment of our government, a ship, registered at seven hundred
and fifty tons, frequently carries a thousand or eleven
hundred tons freight. This absurd system can only be
equalled by that of the Chinese, which, like other idiotic
edicts, they defend on the score of antiquity. They mea-
sure the length from the centre of the fore-mast to the
centre of the mizen-mast, and the breadth is taken close
abaft the main-mast ; the length is then multiplied by the
breadth, and the product, divided by ten, gives the mea-
surement of the ship. By this method a brig often pays
more than a ship, and a ship of one hundred tons half as
much as one of a thousand. Yet the English and the
Chinese are, in their way, both called wise nations.

CHAPTER XXV.

But that sad ship is as a miracle

Of sudden ruin, for it drives so fast,

It seems as if it had array d its form

With the headlong storm.

It strikes — I almost feel the shock, —

It stumbles on a jagged rock, —

Sparkles of blood on the white foam are cast. Shelley.

A change in the weather was apparent. The small curled
clouds, which hitherto* had all scudded one way, congre-

E E

418 ADVENTURES OF

gating to windward, where they remained stationary, ar-
ranged in horizontal lines, till incorporated in the dark and
rugged bank, as if to supply the laboratory of the tempest
with fuel, now no longer hurried on to a particular point,
while their hues and forms were changed, being grey and
evanescent. Night came on, with occasional showers of
rain ; and the obscurity was such that I could only at times
catch a glimpse of the Indiaman, directed to where she lay
by the signals of distress she made to those who could not
possibly hear or see her, and, if seen, could not assist her.
The gale, though broken, blew fiercely in squalls ; and in
the intervening lulls, when relieved from the pressure of
the gale on the little canvass it was safe to carry, the sullen
and tumultuous waves hurled us about, and the water fell
on our deck with the noise and shock of an avalanche,
every wave threatening to annihilate us. To add to our
peril, there were shoals and an extensive range of sunken
rocks immediately under our lee.

We saw nothing of the grab till morning. The wea-
ther was then moderated ; and De Ruyter informed me
that he feared the Indiaman was wrecked ; that when he
had last seen her she was bound in by sunken rocks ; that
he had approached to warn her of her danger, and ad-
vised her to wear round, and haul her wind, but she had
borne away before it, not knowing where she was. ffNow,"
said he, " they must all inevitably perish. Ay, they are
firing guns for aid, but it is too late ! "

De Ruyter's conjectures, as to her loss, were verified
with the earliest break of day. The first object my eye
rested on was the huge wreck of the ship lying along a
bed of rocks, fixed within its jagged points as in a Cy-
clopean vice ; while the immense waves, lashed into fury
by the opposition of the low reef of scattered rocks, assumed
their wildest and most destructive forms. Some arose like
pyramids, others came sweeping along in continued columns,
till, checked by the shoals, their crests flew upwards clear
and transparent as glass ; then, curling inwards, they
hissed and rolled on, till, encountered by the reaction of
the eddying swell from other quarters, they successively
disappeared in spray and foam. In the very midst of this

A YOUNGER SON. 419

horrific whirlpool, with the surf thundering on her, as if
ejected hy the force of a volcano, the doomed wreck lay
like a stranded leviathan.

Not a vestige of the convoy could be descried through
the dim veil of misty clouds which hung on the verge of
the horizon. The gale, after drawing round to the east,
expended its last efforts, and died away at the first ray of
the sun. We lay pitching and rolling so heavily that our
masts bent like rattans, the knees and timbers of the
vessel groaned and shrieked as if torn asunder, and the
bulkheads and deck opened and closed with the violence
of the motion. We were already so near the rocks as to
fill us with dread. To think of succouring the crew of
the wrecked vessel (should indeed any of them still exist),
was at that period out of the question. With a telescope
I could make out that the main-mast with the main-yard,
and the stump of the mizen-mast, were the only parts of
the wreck over which the sea did not continually break.
The fore part of the vessel was bilged, and occasionally
under water ; so that I knew the decks must have blown
up, and her cargo been washed out. Her poop was high
out of the water, but the surf played over it like a foun-
tain. It was evident, if any of her crew had escaped,
they must be on the weather main-yard-arm, which was
topped considerably up, the lee side drooping, and the
swell striking against it. Had any sought refuge on the
weather side of the yard, it was barely possible they could
-maintain their hold against the continued shocks to which
they were liable.

At nine a. m. the swell had so far abated that, seeing
De Ruyter prepare to get a boat out, I followed his exam-
ple ; and succeeded with a light and particularly buoyant
whale-boat, with the second mate and four of my best
seamen — my wound confining me on board. De Ruy-
ter having spoken my boat, they proceeded together, mak-
ing a long sweep round the shoals to leeward, as I
readily conjectured, to make the desperate attempt at ap-
proaching the Wreck ; — the gallant De Ruyter, the first
of seamen, and the first in danger, whether to save or
slay ! — while I, impotent as a bed-ridden hag, could only

420 ADVENTURES OF

curse the paralysed limb which withheld me from follow-
ing his noble example.

It was past noon ere I observed the two boats returning
round the reef towards the grab. I had been able to dis-
tinguish men moving on the main-yard of the wreck, and
that the boats had succeeded in getting near enough to
induce them to lower themselves by ropes into the
sea. Some, I concluded, were saved. The schooner being
the lighter vessel, I got her nearer to the boats ; and
the swell continuing to go down, they reached us in safety.
De Ruyter swung himself on board with a rope; and,
as he wrung my hand, his face beamed with joy brighter
than I had ever beheld it. "Had that lubberly ship," said he,
" kept clear of the rocks, she would have been ours, and I
should have cleared forty thousand dollars ; yet, I know
not why, the rescuing four of her people gives me greater
pleasure than if I had made a prize of her, or of tea-chests
piled high as the Himmalayan mountains. Poor fellows !
they must be endued with the hardness of otters to have
lived through such a night, on such a perch. Hoist them
on board, my lads ! — but first the father and his son."

The words were scarcely uttered when a man, with a
rent jacket of red camlet and yellow facings, embroidered
with silver cord, and the other parts of his dress stained
and dripping, came feebly staggering towards me, evidently
unable to support himself. A dark stripling, naked to the
waist, of a light and muscular form, held him up by the
arm. The former was between forty and fifty years of
age, a captain in a Bengal regiment, returning to Europe,
on leave, after five and twenty years' service in India ; by
which he had acquired a right to full pay for the remainl
der of his life, amounting to a hundred and eighty pounds
per annum. This beggarly stipend, had his habits or the
climate been more temperate, he might have lived many
years to claim ; but, incarcerated in the oven-like atmo-
sphere of Calcutta, his liver had enlarged to the same un-
natural proportion as that of a Strasburg goose, and by the
same means, — heat and stuffing. Bile, not blood, seemed
to circulate, or rather to be stagnated, throughout his body,
dyeing his skin with the slimy green and yellow hue en-

A YOUNGER SON. 421

crusting standing water. His annuity was not worth half
a year's purchase. The boy was from sixteen to seven-
teen, his son by a native woman. Grafted on an indige-
nous stock, he had grown well, and gave promise of goodly
fruit. These and other particulars I learnt afterwards,
for instantly on their arrival on board I gave them a
separate cabin, and had all their wants supplied. Of the
other two men saved, one was the third mate — a square,
athletic north-countryman, inured to wreck and storm,
having been brought up in a collier on his own dangerous
coast. The other was the serang, or native boatswain ;
he was the finest looking fellow I ever saw, as good a
seaman as he was a brave man — the more remarkable
from his caste being stigmatised for dastardly conduct.
The gallant youth, who had preserved his father through
all the dangers I have described, these men spoke of with
wonder and admiration.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell ;

Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave ;

Then some leap'd overboard with dreadful yell,

As eager to anticipate their grave ;

And the sea yawned around her like a hell. Byron.

When refreshed by sleep and food, the third mate told his
story of the wreck. His ship, one of the largest, had lost
her topmasts, and was otherwise greatly damaged by being
taken aback, when first struck by the gale. The frigate
had occasionally taken her in tow. She was a very heavy
sailer, hardly seaworthy. Her cargo consisted of tea,
silk, and sundries. With women, children, black servants,
and others, there were above three hundred souls in her. In
the early part of the night she laboured so much from the
heavy swell as to become generally leaky ; many of the
chain-bolts were drawn, and the chain-plates gave way.

E E 3

422 ADVENTURES OF

In bearing up to ease her, two of the guns of the main-
deck had broken loose ; one of them had stove in a port-
hole, which let in the water ; upon this the pumps became
choked from the tea getting into the well. When the grab
had hailed her, and told her of the rocks, she had attempted
to wear round, but, for want of head-sail, became un-
governable. Ultimately the wind, swell, and indraught
drifted her bodily towards, and then by force through, a
narrow channel of the reefs. There, brought up stern-
foremost on a sunken ledge of rocks, in the very midst of
the breakers, all the Lascars instantly betook themselves to
the rigging and masts. The wailing and screaming were
so loud as to drown the uproar of the winds and waves.
The spray, sometimes the waves, covered the ship ; all
thought they were already under water ; most of those on
the decks were so bewildered that they were washed over-
board, before they could take any measures to save them-
selves. Nothing was visible but the white foam bubbling
all around. They were entirely ignorant of where they
were, or what they were to do. " At that moment," con-
tinued the third mate, u I knew not a single person on
board. I swung myself into the main-rigging by a rope ;
many Lascars and some of the officers were there. I went
on the main-top ; that also was crowded ; none could be
heard to speak, from the spray which even reached them
there. Soon after I saw the foremast go by the board ; —
from the noise on it I thought it was covered with men ; —
they were all lost ! Hardly did I know the deck of my
own ship ; her forecastle seemed entirely under water. I
heard a crash ; I thought it was the sea working its way
between decks, having entered by the hatchways. By a
loud report, like thunder, I knew the decks were blown up,
and the ship water-logged. Some time afterwards, towards
morning, she made a sudden lurch, and fell on her beam-
ends to port ; — the shock was so sudden and violent that
it carried away the mizen mast, on which was the greater
part of the Europeans ; and it threw most of the men out
of the main-top, and the lee main-yard arm ; — being in the
water, all were swept from it ! I and the serang, who had
held fast, seeing the top was going to pieces, no longer

A YOUNGER SON. 423

tenable, crawled out on the weather main-yard, which we
found almost abandoned ; for the braces, which steadied
it, being carried away, and the mainsail, having got loose,
had shaken off those which were on it; yet, though the
sail was blown away, the yard wras swinging about see-saw
fashion. J then first came athwart the old captain, cling-
ing like a lobster to a rock, with the young half-caste stick-
ing fast as a barnacle alongside him, both of them lashed
on the yard by the gaskins, which the lubbers had cast
loose for that purpose, not knowing the sail would get
adrift, which had caused so much mischief. Daylight
appeared, when I could only count six alive. We were
almost exhausted, and without hope, till we saw your
boats : but when we looked round, we thought it impossible
that any one could near us ; for we were shut in by
breakers, on which the sea burst so violently that we could
scarcely hear each other's voices. Besides, we knew you
were French privateers; and when we did observe the
boats shove off, pulling towards us, we thought they came
to see what plunder they could pick up, not to save us."
Here the mate's hard north- country visage brightened, and
his small blue eye glistened from under his high cheek-
bones. " I have seen many brave and good boatmen come
off in life-boats, and other shore-boats, on our coast, in
gales when no ship could show a rag of canvass, but no
man ever saw such a devil's bay as we lay in. The eddy-
ing swell whirling round and round, flying up like water-
spouts, dead men, tea-chests, casks, bales of silk and cotton,
ship- sails, spare boats and oars, men's hammocks, chests,
were all tossed topsy-turvy about together. It made me,
sir, very queer to look at it ; for they all seemed alive, and
the men moved their arms and legs about as if they were
drunk. There was in particular an old black nurse hold-
ing a white child in her arms, which she seemed trying to
re-ship on board us, and then she spun round and round the
rocks ; and I thought I heard the body squealing, every
time they were dashed against the rocks. A man near me
on the yard never took his eyes off her ; and all at once,
he called out, as if he were stark mad, — " Ay, ay, old
devil, I am coming ! I am coming !" — and dashed head-
e e 4

424 ADVENTURES OF

foremost amongst 'em ; he didn't strike out a stroke, but
went down like lead. The old captain told me not to look
below ; and I did feel my head going round, as if I were
top-heavy. A fish or a cork could not float steadily for an
instant in that roaring whirlpool, and yet the American
captain got near enough, after a number of trials, to throw
a lead line on board, when the first man who tried to get
hold of it was washed off and drowned. Then it was again
thrown, and that young lad, the officer's son, who was as
active as a monkey, got hold of it, and I secured the end
of a rope to it, which the captain hauled on board. One
by one we lowered ourselves down, and were hauled into
the boat; and, thank God! though you don't carry En-
glish colours, there are some of my countrymen on board,
— and that 's all I care for. And I must say, though this
be a Yankee, I never saw better craft, or better seamen, or
kinder to brother tars in distress."

In the English accounts of this loss it was stated, and
never contradicted, that, in a dismasted and leaky state,
she had been seen in the dusk of the evening, bearing
away, and firing guns of distress. That the men of war,
convoying the fleet, could not assist her, as the commodore
had already a ship in tow, which, but for his aid, must
have been wrecked, being completely dismasted ; and the
frigate was engaged in keeping off two fast- sailing French
privateers, which had been hanging on the convoy during
the heaviest gale the oldest seaman had ever witnessed in the
China seas; and that the ship missing was supposed to
have foundered, or been wrecked on the sunken rocks and
sand banks, which bind the north-east coast of the island
of Borneo.

National pride, like the pride of individuals, requires to
be well oiled in order to work smoothly ; and John Bull,
with all his vaunted plainness and honesty, is, in reality,
as vain and gullible as the strutting gander after it is stuffed
with oil- cake. His dignity would have been compromised
at any allusion to the East Indiaman's having been cut off
from her convoy, guarded by his omnipotent and invincible
ships of war, by a couple of French Lettres de marque,
and during a tremendous gale, when British tars flatter

A. YOUNGER SON. 425

themselves that they alone have the hardihood at once to
contend against its fury, and to act offensively against an
enemy.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Trust not for freedom to the Franks —

They have a king who buys and sells.

In native swords and native ranks,

The onlv hope of courage dwells ;

But Turkish force and Latin fraud

Would break your shield, however broad. Byron.

So from that cry over the boundless hills,

Sudden was caught one universal sound,

Like a volcano's voice, whose thunder fills

Remotest skies. Shelley.

As soon as the weather permitted, we steered a north-east
course, till we made those small islands off the coast of
Borneo, where we had anchored on a former occasion.
Here we brought up, repaired our damage, landed our sick,
and refreshed ourselves.

I had given De Ruyter an account of every thing I had
seen, heard, or done. He was much moved at the account
of Louis's death; for Louis, though with an exterior as
rough and hard as that of the cocoa-nut, had the genuine
stamp of worth, not to be forged or effaced ; and he pos-
sessed as many good qualities as he was generally useful.
e< I do not know," said De Ruyter, " how we shall manage
without him. He has long had entire control over our
money affairs, — an admirable accountant; and to find an-
other honest man, that is so, to fill his place, will be dif-
ficult. There is contagion in the handling of money, and
in the knowledge of the science of numbers, which gives
too great a facility in the subtracting from others to add
to ourselves. It makes the mind sordid ; the rapacity of
money-mongers, commissaries, and pursers is proverbial.
We must therefore, despairing to fill his place by any other,
share his duty between us/'

426

ADVENTURES OF

After attentively listening to my affair with the Javanese,
he exclaimed, — " So, you went a wild goose, or a boar
chase, excited, I suppose, by its perilous absurdity ! It is
true, no one could have extricated himself with greater
judgment ; but who else would have been guilty of such
folly ? You are as rash and headstrong as our Malay
friend, the hero of Sambas."

" By the by, De Ruyter," I replied, " your alliance with
that predatory tribe of Malays appears to me as gratuitous
an act of unknightly errantry as my Quixotic expedition
at Java/'

He rubbed his hands with glee, his eye brightened, and
on his dark and manly features was legibly traced the satis-
faction swelling at his heart. His lips curled, and his
breast dilated, as he said, — " No, my lad; — to harass,
burn, sink, and destroy their enemies is a duty I owre to
the flag I sail under. I confess I should not so gladly en-
gage in these profitless expeditions, but that I loathe and
detest the English merchant Company, — and all com-
panies, for tbey are bound together by narrow views and
selfish ties. Revenge, or rather retribution, is to me what
the Sultan of Borneo says of that matchless diamond he
possesses, — like the sun, above all price. A parson poet
of yours exclaims,

* What is revenge, but courage to call in
Our honour's debts ? '

■ — and debts of honour, you know, must be scrupulously
paid. I think, for every dollar they once took from me,
they have subsequently lost, and by my means, as many thou-
sands. The Company had long sought to obtain a secure
footing on that side of Borneo ; but tbe almost total wrant
of harbours, and the opposition every where met with from
the noble and chivalrous Malays, continued to frustrate
their attempts. At last they fixed their greedy eyes on
the town of Sambas, which has a river, good anchorage,
not very distant, and is defended by a fort, besides being
situated in the best part of the island for commerce and
culture. Perfidious in design as atrocious in act, they
gave out that the purpose of their expedition was exclu-

A YOUNGER SON. 427

sively to destroy that piratical settlement ; when the fact
was, they had determined to settle there themselves, and
lay the foundation-stone of their old system, by which
they first take all the produce and trade of the country,
and then the country itself.

e< The grab being in a secure berth, and our heroic
Malay chieftain having pledged himself and people to be
under my guidance, I, after completing the necessary ar-
rangements, directed him to embark his followers in their
war-proas, when, with a strong party in my boats, we pro-
ceeded together along the coast, till we arrived at Tangong
point, where we disembarked, and where I left my boats.
We then marched over land ; the heavy guns and other
bulky articles being sent round in the proas. After a very
long and distressing journey through forests, over rugged
and gigantic mountains, across pathless and almost endless
plains, rivers, torrents, and morasses, we came to the
banks of the river of Sambas. On one side was a swamp,
and on the other an inextricable and interminable jungle.
Through intricate paths, guided by the natives, we at last
arrived at the town of Sambas, marked out for destruction
by the English. Its inhabitants were huddled together in
many miserable rattan huts, under cover of a shapeless
mass of mud and timber, dignified with the appellation of
tower, or fort. Here and there were scattered basket-like
habitations, supported, as you are, on crutches, and ap-
parently ready to move to the town, when tempted by
business or necessity. Journeying along, I had observed a
very capacious, a magnificent bay, shut in by islands, to the
eastward of the Malay town, in which, it was evident, the
invaders would anchor their vessels, and disembark their
troops. I likewise found the native inhabitants were
moving their goods, chattels, and war-boats to recesses and
fastnesses, prepared to avoid, as it looked, rather than op-
pose, the threatened invasion of which I had given them
notice. At my instigation the chieftain went with his
people into the jungle and morasses,, ascended to the moun-
tain caverns, to harangue the grey-bearded leaders of the
private coast, and rally together. At the sound of battle
and plunder, the hidden warriors started out like packs of

428 ADVENTURES OF

jackals from their retreats ; the enterprising spirit of the
chieftain inspired every heart, and spread like fire up a
mountain in the dry season. Detestation of the Europeans,
and emulation of each other, conspired to multiply their
numbers, and collect them together. On the second day,
while I was putting the fortress into a defensible state, and
sinking trees to obstruct the passage of the river, I was
startled at the wild war-cry of thousands of these noblest
of barbarians. They came pouring down the mountain
like a deluge, and I was well pleased to be in possession of
the mud-fortress during the first paroxysm of their inflam-
matory fever. The violence of their gestures, their pierc-
ing shrieks, the discharging of their firearms, the shaking
and clashing of swords and spears, the blasts of their conch-
shell trumpets reverberating from rock and ravine, — it
seemed as if all the natives of that savage land were run-
ning a-muck. My friend, the chieftain, soon came to me,
accompanied by the most potent leaders of the various
tribes. To these he made me known ; and, after the pre-
lude of a plentiful but not a splendid feast, we proceeded
to business. The chieftain, who was a great orator, made
a long harangue, in which he magnified my services, and
concluded with proposing me as their general director,
being best acquainted with European warfare. I separated
the respective tribes, and allotted them particular stations,
where they were to lie concealed till the enemy had entered
the river, and landed the troops. Then they were to be
permitted to advance a certain distance, on which a large
body of Malays, by showing themselves on the side of the
jungle, should compel them to keep on that side leading to
the marshes. When arrived there, they were to be op-
posed by the natives of the town, who were the best ac-
quainted with its localities. But you may see, in my
journal, a map of the place, and a plan of its defence,
which was only partially acted on, their sanguinary im-
petuosity breaking frantically through every restraint.

" When every thing was prepared, we waited the arrival
of the flotilla from Bombay. We had placed look-outs all
along the coast, and sent fast-sailing proas into the offing.
It was so long ere they came, and, when we had sight

A YOUNGER SON. 42$

of them, they were so tardy in their movements, that we
well nigh despaired of slaking our unquenchable thirst for
vengeance. The soil of India has been crimsoned with the
blood of her children ; her sultans, her princes, and her
warrior chieftains have been exterminated. India has been
subverted by the adventurers of Europe, in their search for
gold. To pay off the accumulated arrears of blood, by
exacting life for life, is as impossible as to pay off the
debt of bankrupt Europe. However, they talk of liquid-
ating that; and India may yet exact a fraction, in the way
of dividend, for the myriads of lives so wantonly expended
by her prodigal Christian invaders. Would that I might
live to behold the eastern ocean red with blood, as was
the paltry stream of Sambas, on the day we broke through
the marshalled ranks of the Christians, when the fierce
and ungovernable Malays breasted the renegade Sepoys'
bayonets, with irresistible fury drove them from the muddy
banks of the river into its dark waters, and left an ample
feast for its swarms of alligators and dog-fish, and for the
jackals and vultures on shore ! No quarter was given ;
little plunder acquired. We pursued the fugitives, de-
stroying them as they endeavoured to regain their vessels.
Some boats from their shipping were still landing stores,
guns, and a few remaining troops ; which, by making a
stand, facilitated their escape. Yet the slain far outnum-
bered the rescued, — at least of those who landed. But
stop, — I hear our Malay chieftain coming alongside. Let
us go up and welcome him."

The Malays from their proa were soon on board of us.
The chieftain rushed towards De Ruyter, knelt and kissed
his hand, and then placed it on his heart and head. After-
wards he made a speech, with a voice and action not
studied from the school of Demosthenes, but of such vio-
lence that the limbs and muscles of his native auditory were
set in motion as if by the power of galvanism ; which
proved that passionate and untaught eloquence can move
the heart of man, as much as, or perhaps more than, ever
did the learned and commanding diction of that time-
serving, subtle Greek philosopher. The purport of his
speech was to reiterate their thanks for the repeated ser-

430 ' ADVENTURES OF

vices De Ruyter had rendered to their nation, and to ex-
press their admiration of him, his courage, and his wisdom ;
— his words were, " greater than a lion in fight, and in
wisdom a prophet." They conjured him to stay with
them as their prince. They would build him a house on
the gold mountain, at the foot of which runs the river of
diamonds ; — this was no oratorical flourish, for a great
quantity of gold is yearly dug from the mountain, and
very fine diamonds are fished from the river. They would
give him all they had, and he should be their father.
They only besought of him one small boon ; which was,
that he would use his influence with the great warriors of
his nation, to go to the little island of great ships (meaning
England), and, while the ships were in its ports, awaiting
the monsoon to blow over, that he and his warriors should
then burn all the ships, lay waste the island, and drown
all the people. u Thy son," (meaning me,) continued the
chieftain, " can stay with us, whilst thou dost go and do
this. Every old man shall be his father, and thy voice
shall be heard and obeyed through him. For is he not of
thy blood?"

De Ruyter perceiving me smile, said, " Well, who
knows ? Wilder words than these have been spoken ere
now, and scoffed at ; yet, in after-ages, they have been
called prophecies, when proved, or believed in, — no matter
which."

During our greetings and conversation, a feast had been
prepared, of which the chieftain partook, and then told De
Ruyter that every sort of provision should be sent down to
him on the ensuing day, and his wishes complied with,
whatever they might be. He concluded with, — " Thou
lovest my people, for thou hast done more than their
fathers and mothers for them ; — they gave them life, but
thou hast given them freedom. But my people are poor,
and like presents ; I have, however, told them, if any ac-
cept the smallest trifle from thy people, I will — " (and
here he glanced fiercely round his own men) — " kill him,
even though we had both come from the same womb, and
been suckled by the same bosom." They then descended
into their proa, and went on shore.

A YOUNGER SON. 431

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The world is full of woodmen, who expel

Love's gentle dryads from the trees of life,

And vex the nightingales in every dell,

With harsh, rude voices, and unseemly strife. Shelley.

Impatient of confinement, and anxious to see my old
friends in the grab, I went on board of her, accompanied
by my little nurse, Zela,, and De Ruyter, who loved her
as his child. There we passed a jovial night, supping
and carousing till daylight under the awning, while the
grab's crew danced and sung ; for, with permission, I had
brought them a barrel of Java arrac, which is the best in
India.

I must not forget Van Scolpvelt, whom I found nearly
the same as when I left him. My first sight of him was
through the skylight into his pigeon-house- looking dis-
pensary. Near the chinks and crevices of the beams were
several long centipedes crawling about ; and all the cock-
roaches in the ship sought refuge there. Van cared not for
them, provided they did not, which cockroaches are liable
to do when hard pushed for water, creep into his mouth
as he slept. He was perfectly indifferent to their dropping
into his soup, or his tea ; perhaps, indeed, he took the
same pleasure in seeing them scalded to death as did
Domitian in viewing the struggles of the flies, which, for
pastime, he cast into spiders' webs. There sat Van, smok-
ing his meersham, and lugging by its hairy leg a particular
fine large cockroach out of his teacup. The tea not being
hot, the huge beetle was no more than refreshed by its
warm bath. Van, either struck by its extraordinary size,
or merely to wile away the time, after holding it up to the
light, spitted it scientifically, and began to scrutinise it
through a magnifying glass. I was now about to hail
him, but De Ruyter put his hand on my mouth. After
Van had satisfied his curiosity, he threw the insect out of
the scuttle, and sipped his beverage. His anatomical pro-

432 ADVENTURES OF

pensities being thus awakened, I saw him fix his eye on
the beam, then with a sudden dash of his long skinny
thumb, and with a pressure which proved him to be no
tyro in the art, he pinned the head of a centipede firmly
against the timber, the body being concealed in a rent.
The thumb-screw pressure prevented the reptile from using
its venom ; and the long writhing body, with its hundred
quivering legs, fell into the open palm of Van, who forth-
with projecting his fore-finger, so as to form a natural
forceps, clutched the crushed head. It was the longest
and largest I had ever seen. Van, after an alternative
examination, put it into a bottle, which contained many
more preserved in spirits, where it long writhed about;
for it is curious that a centipede, even in that state, will
continue wriggling for hours.

De Ruyter now hailed the doctor, who replenished his
pipe, put his jacket on, and shuffled up the hatchway.
He held out his defiled fin, which, notwithstanding the
venom on it, I shook heartily. He then inquired into the
particulars of my sick list, and devoured my discourse as
I narrated the ravages of the Java fever. As he heard of
the death of poor Louis, he expressed great sorrow, apo-
strophising, however, on his obduracy with regard to me-
dicine, and eagerly demanded if he had not, during his
sufferings, called on his name. To this I answered,
« No."

' c No ! n echoed Scolpvelt ; ic then he died an impious
unbeliever ! I alone could have saved him ! "

When I recounted the death of one of my Arabs from
poison, he asked if there was nothing else the matter with
him. I mentioned he had been slightly wounded ; and,
upon his desiring to be informed of the appearance of the
wound, I told him the fellow complained it was painful,
and it looked reddish.

" What I" said he, " was it a phagedenic sloughing
sore ? — or do you mean an erysipelatous inflammation ?
Were not the chylopoietic viscera disordered ? What did
you apply ? "

iC Apply, Van ? — why, I told the fellow to drink con-
gee-water with lemon in it, and to wash his leg with

A YOUNGER SON. 4:33

brandy ; but he washed his gullet with the brandy., and
the sore with the lemon drink."

" Did he ? — then he proved he knew more of medicine
than you did. That fellow should have lived, and vou
died!"

Scolpvelt vehemently cursed the surgeon who had de-
serted his post during the battle with an enemy against
whom, for the benefit of science, he should have gloried
in contending. He then insisted on examining my wound,
and observed that, from its appearance, surgeons in general
woidd believe some portion of my garments had entered
with the ball, and would prevent the cicatrisation by forcing
a probe to sound the passage of the ball. " Now," he
said, " I know, from a long series of practical experience,
which few like me have had, in gun-shot wounds, that,
whatever clothing may be shot through, the bail enters the
flesh without ever conveying a fibre of it into the wound ;
unless, indeed, it is a ball almost spent, which can con-
sequently but inflict a superficial wound."

He wound up his discourse by telling me he saw de-
cided symptoms of jaundice in my eyes and skin.

My old quarter-master, standing by me open-mouthed
with astonishment at the puzzling scientific language, from
time to time drawled out, " I wonder what rate that ship
may be he is launching now !" — " Thirty years in the
navy, and never heard of the Hajademee and the Chylo-
pottic ! — I suppose they be first-raters, Dutch." — " The
Cockatrice sloop-of-war I have heard of."

At last Van turned round with —

" What is the old dog mumbling, eh ? — he is rotting
with the scurvy — look here !" — -at which he applied his
hard thumb to the seaman's red and hairy arm : then
pressing on it, he removed his claw, and pointed to the
place.

" Look \" said he, " the indented stamp remains — the
collapsed muscles have lost their power and elasticity, from
the transudation of the blood in the veins."

The quarter-master, without noticing the impression on
his wiry arm, perhaps because it had no more sensibility
than my crutch, said, —

434 ADVENTURES OF

c< Collapse — why he means the Colossus seventy-four,
or the Cyclops. As to Ticity and Ansudation, I suppose
they too he Dutch craft."

Van toddled off to see what citric-acid he couid spare
saying he should visit the schooner's sick in the morning.

CHAPTER XXIX.

I love all waste
And solitary places : where we taste
The pleasure of believing what we see
Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be. Shelley.

The hard features of the old Rais relaxed as he greeted
me ; and Zela, who loved him for his former kindness,
kissed his hand, and, sitting down hy him, talked of their
country and their tribes. On this topic alone the old
Arab was loquacious. They continued, with little inter-
mission, in animated discussion on the matchless beauties
of their native countries, till the grey light of morning
shone on his dusky form, and illuminated Zela's pallid
brow. She dwelt on the magnificence of the town and
river of Yedana, its dark mountains, bright waters, and
perpetual verdure ; the cool breezes from the Persian gulf,
and the blue islands of Sohar, of one of which her father
bad been Schaich. The Rais admitted all this, but warmly
protested against their being compared to the riches of
Kalat, or the splendour of Rasalhad ; then the summits of
the Tor mountains touched heaven, and the desert, where
he spent his youth, was large as the sea, — but unfortu-
nately there the similarity ended, for it had not a drop of
water within its vast circumference. He endeavoured to
convince Zela what a paradise was this desert, without
water or wells, and how peacefully and patriarchally they
lived by supplying themselves from the caravans, and
exacting tribute from all that passed the inhospitable ocean -
bed of sand. By some queries from her he was, indeed,

A YOUNGER SON. 43j>

compelled to admit the horrid tortures they sometimes
suffered from the want of water ; that, it was true, hy the
parched and shrivelled corpses of perished travellers they
used to trace the caravans, which more than compensated
them for what they endured : — God knew what was best
for his children ! As he was fondly dwelling on these
horrors, I capsized a bucket of water, in which we had
cooled our claret, over his head, took Zela by the hand,
got into the boat, and returned aboard.

Soon after, the schooner was surrounded by country
boats, laden with live stock, fish, fruit, and vegetables,
enough to have provisioned a frigate. At the same time
the four persons whom De Ruyter had redeemed from the
wreck, went on board the grab, where there was better
accommodation ; he promising to embrace the first oppor-
tunity of shipping them to the English settlements. The
bilious captain of the Bengal army continued to suffer
from the hardships he had endured during the wreck of
his ship. While I think of it, I will conclude their his-
tory. We shortly after shipped them for Bombay in a
prize we had made, plundered, and liberated. The cap-
tain and his son took their passage for England. De
Ruyter and myself, unknown to the father, had insinuated
a purse of gold mores into a trunk of necessaries which
they had been compelled, in their utter destitution of
clothing, to accept. Either at the Cape of Good Hope, or
at St. Helena, the father died, and thereby relieved the
Company from the burthen of his annuity. Of the youth,
a lad of noble feelings, and an incomparable son, I never
could gain the slightest intelligence ; though I fulfilled my
promise, made to his father at parting, of doing my ut-
most to find him out and serve him. Neither did the
mate return to England; for, as I heard, he had a com-
mand in the country coasting trade, and, probably, the
serang continued with him.

During our stay here we hove the schooner down, to
examine if she had sustained any damage by striking on
the sand-bank. There was nothing the matter with her,
except that a few sheets of copper were rubbed off. We
then put our vessels into their best sailing trim, completed

F F 2

436

ADVENTURES OP

our water, cut some spare spars, and painted both the
hulls. The grab was again metamorphosed into a clumsy,
country-looking Arab, with a raised poop and forecastle of
painted canvas. The schooner resumed her original Yan-
kee cut, with broad streaks of bright yellow rosin.

De Ruyter made several excursions into the interior,
under the guidance of the Malay chieftain, being anxious
to explore a country then totally unknown to Europeans.
I paddled about the coast and the islands with Zela in her
canoe. We revisited our old haunts ; and, after having
designed the plan of a bungalow, I marked out a garden,
calculated the labour of clearing land enough to yield us
corn, rice, and wine, and most methodically made in my
mind every necessary arrangement for establishing a co-
lony, far surpassing Paradise in purity and bliss, in which
we, the happy founders, were to pass the rest of our days
in unruffled tranquillity. Meanwhile with our own hands
we had erected a hut, consisting of four upright bamboos,
thatched with palm leaves ; and one day, as Zela was,
with matchless culinary skill, roasting fish over the live
embers, the iron ramrod of my carbine serving as a spit,
I, elated at my newly acquired importance as householder,
and freeholder of land sans limit, stalked over my domain,
and said, —

i£ Sweet Zela, under our own wild vine and fig-tree,
how much happier we shall be than sweltering in that
coffin-like schooner, jammed together, and pitching and
tossing, like packed dates on the back of a lame dromedary !
How happy "

Here I was interrupted by the pushing aside of the
thick foliage. Hearing some one advance, I began to
imagine that the resurrection of my old friend the organ
from the dead was appearing to dispute my title-deeds to
his property; for it was on the ruins of his former dwelling
that I had erected mine, which, I must lionestly confess,
in architectural design, as well as solidity of structure, was
far inferior to his. But, instead of the orang's apparition,
it was De Ruyter, laughing as if his heart would burst,
who thus, for the second time, disturbed my imaginary
rural plans, calling out, " Come along, my lad ! The

A YOUNGER SON. 437

Malay has sent me word that, from their look-out station
on the mountain, there is a strange sail in the offing to the
north. Come along, — get on board the lame dromedary
— ha ! ha ! ha ! The grab is not quite ready for sea. If
you once get sight of the stranger, she cannot escape ; and
if detainable, which she must be, bring her in here/'

In ten minutes I was on board ; in five more I was
under weigh. With a press of canvass, and with a favour-
able breeze, we made a clear offing, and, before sunset,
were in sight of the stranger. She sailed remarkably well.
We lost her during the night, but luckily there was little
wind. We regained sight of her next morning ; and, a
breeze coming out of the gulf, we brought her to, after a
hard chase of nine hours. She proved to be a country
trader from Bombay, bound to China. Having heard that
a French cruiser was off the Cochin-China coast, she had,
with extreme precaution, kept along the opposite one of
Borneo, and thus fell into our hands. She was a beautiful
copper-fastened brig, built of Malabar teak by the Parsees
of Bombay, freighted with cotton-wool, a few cases of
opium, guns, pearls from Arabia, sharks' fins, birds' nests,
and oil from the Lackadive islands, with four or five sacks
of rupees. This valuable prize consoled us for the failure
of our plans on the China fleet, and created general satis-
faction amongst the men.

We returned to our anchorage elated with success. A
day or two after De Ruyter despatched his Malay friend
to Pontiana, a large and wealthy province on the western
coast, not long founded by a powerful and wise Arab
prince. The capital is situated on the banks of a wide
navigable river ; there was a branch of the Dutch factory,
with which our Malay had extensive dealings. Thither
he went for an agent, that we might dispose of the Bom-
bay cargo, as it was adapted for that market ; for we could
not spare hands to send the prize to a distance. We did
not well know how to dispose of the vessel. Her captain,
who was part owner of her, as well as being interested in
the cargo, was so fond of her, that he proposed to ransom
the hull. While all this was arranging, I rejoiced in the
f p 3

438

ADVENTURES OP

delay, as It enabled me to continue my building and idling
on shore with Zela.

CHAPTER XXX.

And I

Plied him cup after cup, until the drink

Had warmed his entrails, and he sang aloud,

In concert with my wailing fellow- seam en,

A hideous discord. Shelley. — Translation.

Ha ! ha ! ha! I 'm full of wine,

Heavy with the joy divine,

With the young feast oversated :

Like a merchant vessel freighted

To the water's edge, my crop

Is laden to the gullet's top. Shelley, from Euripides.

As it was necessary that a considerable portion of time
should elapse before the disposal of our prize could be
accomplished, De Ruyter, leaving instructions for my
guidance during his absence, took his departure in the
grab to glean the China seas.

I gladly remained. My time was fully occupied in
superintending our multifarious occupations. The first
mate was placed in charge of the prize, with a party of
men, who removed her crew to the small island on which
the Malays had built huts for us. The second mate was
occupied, with a gang of men, in curing jerked buffalo and
deer-flesh, and salting wild hogs and ducks. I purchased
a plentiful supply of rice and maize. What leisure time
I had was devoted to my rural occupations, which I pursued
with all the zest of novelty, and the zeal of a migrated
settler. The little cove> in which I used to bathe with
Zela, and where we had encountered the Jungle Admee,
or wild man, I constituted my naval arsenal ; and spent
much of my time there in a tent. This spot was com-
pletely barricadoed from the rest of the island by a living
wall of jungle. From a high pinnacle of rock, on the
east side, we commanded an extensive view to seaward ,

A YOUNGER SON. v 439

and overlooked the schooner and her Bombay prize. By
a flag-staff, placed on its summit, I could at all times com-
municate with the schooner. Towards sunset I always
returned to sup and sleep on board, that I might entertain
my prize-guests, and be at my post.

One night we were all more than ordinarily disposed
for enjoyment, and the deck was thickly strewed with
bowls of arrack punchy brandy, Hollands, Bordeaux, Cu-
racoa, and various other genial fluids — potent elixirs
which prevent the heart from ossifying, and close up the
cracks and rents in our clay, laid open by the scorching
heat of the sun. The Indians say the sap of the mimosa
is an antidote to sorrow ; and so it is — when fermented;
and wine can medicine the mind, and " pluck from the
memory a rooted sorrow," as was exemplied in the person
of our captive commander. In the early part of the even-
ing he had been groaning over the loss of his highly
prized vessel, and told me that, had it pleased Providence
to deprive him of his wife and six children, he could have
submitted to its heavy dispensation : — -

" Eut there, where he had garner'd up his heart,
Where either he must live, or bear no life, —
To be discarded thence ! "

— meaning from his copper-bottomed brig, not his cop-
per-coloured wife. Yet, now that the subtle vinous spirit
had touched his soul with its talisman, sorrow fled from
him, and his stagnant blood, before jellying into jaundice,
flowed from his heart like a fountain. He talked and
sung without intermission, wrung my hand, and swore
I was the best friend and the best fellow in the world.

Our orgies were interrupted by the old quarter-master's
hailing, — (i Boat a-hoy ! " when the answer ffHadjee,"
(pilgrim,) which was our watch- word, gave token of the
approach of a friend. A large proa, impelled rapidly by
paddles, shot up alongside, and the Malay chieftain ap-
peared on the gangway. Whilst he laboured to explain to
me the reason, aided by his powerful gesticulation, for his
having so soon returned, altogether inaudible, owing to
the boatswain-like roar with which the captain was chant-
ing " Rule Britannia/' a short, squat, business-like looking
f f 4

440 ADVENTURES OF

man made his appearance, and the Malay shoved him to-
wards me. I arose to receive him. The gravity of his
square, flat countenance, with a paunch swelling out like
a lowered top-sail bagging-out with the wind, made me
laugh. His limbs were preposterously short ; or, as the
quarter-master said, ce he sailed under jury-masts." In-
deed if that theory is true, which asserts we have all more
or less affinity to some bird, beast, or other animal, he was
indisputably of the order (C sheep- tick." With measured step
and leaden gravity, he saluted me with, — u I am, Sir,
Bartholomew Zachariah Jans, and accredited factor of the
Dutch Company's establishment at Pontiana, and agent of
Van Olaus Swammerdam. Understanding you have a prize
to dispose of, I am here to treat and negotiate for the same."

The captain, I suppose, caught the subject of conversa-
tion ; for he abruptly stopped his iC Britannia rule the
waves ! " stared with distended jaw at the accredited
agent, and changed his note to the drawling and melan-
choly tune of " Poor Tom Bowling ! "

Our Dutch factor seated himself on the hatchway with-
out any apparent diminution of altitude. After he had
washed his ivories with a cup of skedam (that would have
surprised even Louis), swallowed, as he observed, to dis-
lodge the night air which he had inhaled, he protested he
had never met with such excellent stuff, and, with the
addition of a bite of biscuit, would take another toothful.
I directed the quarter-master to see the factor's wants
supplied, and he went to rouse up the cabin-boy, mutter-
ing, — " Never see'd or heard tell of such a queer-shaped
craft as this, — all stowage room ! Why, the Temeraire,
three-decker, hadn't such a bread-room ! Bite of biscuit!
— why, a bag of biscuit would float about in his wet
dock like peas in the ship's coppers ! Why, boy, —
turn out ! " When he had roused the boy with a kick.
I heard an order given to bring on deck all the grub in the
locker.

Forthwith appeared a piece of cold pork, one of the
immense fat ducks of the island, and half a Dutch pine-
apple cheese. I conversed with the Malay, while the
factor, with immoveable taciturnity, battened on the food,

A YOUNGER SON. 441

and filled up the vacuum in his portentous belly. When
he had cleared the platters, and emptied a stone-bottle of
gin, he said, u Captain, it is late. There is no good in
talking on business after supper. The night is close ; —
I will repose here."

As he spoke this he lay down, not without difficulty, on
the main-sail, which was unbent and lying aft to be re-
paired, covered himself up with a flag, and told the boy to
fill his pipe. We soon heard him snoring and puffing
away as he slept. Our bacchanalian party followed his
example, stretching their relaxed limbs amidst the empty
bottles and glasses, and reclining their heavy heads, when
slumber soon closed their dizzy eyes.

In the morning, after Bartholomew Zachariah Jans had
supplied his loss in animal heat and moisture, with salt
pork and Hollands, we proceeded together on board the
prize. I soon discovered I bad a cool, calculating, subtle
merchant to contend with. This put me on my mettle ;
for although I was ignorant and prodigal in money trans-
actions, as far as they affected myself (for the love of
money, like that of olives, is a taste to be acquired, not
instinctive), yet I felt, what many besides Hotspur . have
expressed ; that, in the way of bargain, I could cavil on
the ninth part of a hair. In addition to his country's
characteristic traits of industry, craft, and patience, this
fellow combined the slily-grasping character of the Low-
land Scotch. When the Bombay captain, with a sailor's
frankness, came to treat with the factor about redeeming
the hull of his vessel, and talked of the peculiar hardship
of his case, reduced, in an instant, from wealth to extreme
want, he assumed an impenetrability to human suffering,
worse than that of a Hollander, Scot, or the devil himself,
- — I mean that anomaly in nature, an Irish landlord, with
heart of granite, and head of wood. He stared at the
bankrupt captain with the blank, remorseless, withering
apathy, which, in after-years, was recalled to my memory
by one of the aforesaid ruffianly gasconading bullies, as he
doggedly listened to the petitions of his squalid and fa-
mished tenants; and then our factor resumed his scrutiny
cf the prize-papers, invoices., and bills of loading. Seeing

442 ADVENTURES OF

the captain despair, I comforted him with assurances that
he should not be forgotten in the sale. Upon this the
factor said; <c I protest against all stipulations. If the
captain gives a good price, backed by good security, his
tender will be considered ; that is, if the factory become
the purchasers, or I am the agent ; always providing that
Van Olaus Swammerdam approves."

I was then young, and not knowing that such characters
are common ones, I felt so disgusted with the tallowy
brute, that I not only refused to treat with him, but was
about to treat him with a keelhale, or to throw him over-
board, and there harpoon him. But, dissuaded from this,
I dismissed the wretch with revilings and contempt ;
which, since then, I have oftener seen merited than in-
flicted.

CHAPTER XXXI.

And she began to moan and sigh,
Because he mused beyond her, knowing well
That but a moment's thought is passion's passing bell. Keats.

And her, the homicide and husband-killer. Byron.

De Ruyter returned, having in tow a small schooner he
had picked up ; when, without loss of time, we embarked
every thing belonging to the vessels, got under weigh, and
proceeded to sea. Without any occurrence of moment, we
anchored at Batavia in the island of Java. The fever had
subsided there ; and De Ruyter, besides having the prizes
to dispose of, had a great deal of business to transact, left
unfinished by Louis, and took up his quarters on shore.

We cleared the vessels out, and took in an ample supply
of provisions, far superior to what we had been for a long
period accustomed to. The vessels being in excellent order,
we had, in other respects, little to do ; and I made, with
Zela, frequent excursions into the mountainous part of this

A YOUNGER SON. 443

exceedingly rich and populous island. Its productions,
timber, grain, and fruit, were of a finer quality than at
any of the islands I had visited, with the exception of
some portion of Borneo. General Jansens, the governor,
an old friend of De Ruyter's, was very civil to me, as he
had also been on my former visit. We spent much of our
time at his country house.

In Europe there is or was a rage for golden-haired vir-
gins ; but here the mania was for golden complexions.
At the same merchant's house where De Ruyter lodged,
there lived a very rich widow, a native of the capital of
Yug, which was situated on that part of the island still
governed by its native princes. She was much admired
at Batavia, and had, by the beauties of her person, at-
tracted the beaux of the place, who revolved diurnally
about her doors. She was nearly four feet and a half in
stature, with a skin so brightly yellow that, when bur-
nished with oil, it reflected the sun's rays like a gilded
ball on a cupola, which her rich rotundity resembled.
Her little jetty eyes sparkled in a face round and plump as
an orange ; her nose was minute as the bill of a humming
bird ; her lips, both in substance and dimensions, be-
tokened her African descent ; and the hairs on her glo-
bular head, if collected together, would hardly have
amounted to the cherished number sprouting from my
upper lip. Yet, such as I have described her, she was
the beau-ideal of beauty at Java ; and suitors from the
four quarters of the island thronged to do her homage.
In that favoured portion of the world the women enjoy
the inestimable privilege of divorcing themselves from
their husbands — a law in no danger of becoming obsolete;
for the rich and peerless widow, now in her twenty-fourth
year, had already been lawfully married to ten different
men, — one dead, two killed, six cashiered for neglect of
duty, and one missing.

The Javanese are a remarkably dwarfish race, the men
seldom exceeding five feet, and the women four and a half.
De Puiyter and myself, respectively measuring six feet, and
of proportionate brawn and bone, looked Titanic, as, with
the loose and rolling gait of sailors, we forced our way

444 ADVENTURES OF

through the bazaar or crowded lanes, scattering the small
humam fry right and left, like a couple of benetas among
a shoal of flying fish. This manly bearing made a deep
impression on the sensibility of the widow. Henceforth
she treated the island imps with scorn ; and avowed her
intention of uniting herself to a man, — no more to frag-
ments of men, as she termed them, fit only for beggars.
After a minute scrutiny, and mature deliberation as to
which she should take, De Ruyter or me, the golden apple
was allotted to me, both as I was younger, and, thanks to
the remains of jaundice, far yellower. Nothing doubting
my rapturous assent, she, therefore, made a formal pro-
posal in my behalf to De Ruyter, with the offer of an
unconditional surrender of her charms, and large posses-
sions of coffee-grounds, sugar, rice, and tobacco plantations,
houses and tenements, slaves and personals^ enough to put
me on an equality with the most powerful princes in the
province of Yug. De Ruyter, with a suitable and com-
plimentary address, acknowledging the lustre and honour
of so condescending a mark of her favour, merely hinted
at the trifling impediment of my being already married.
This she could not comprehend. A little, white- faced,
slimly-formed, sickly, girl she had indeed seen with me,
with hair wound round her head like a turban, great eyes
and lips, and mouth ridiculously small, all which every
man must hold in abhorrence. Faugh ! Truly for a sea-
wife she might do ; she looked like a fish ; and what else
can live in water ? She then unveiled her dazzling beau-
ties, and said, " Look at me ! " De Ruyter avowed she
was the reverse of the sea- girl ; but he observed that men
had strange and capricious tastes with regard to eating and
loving. However, he would inform me of her determin-
ation in my favour. ' c Ah ! " she exclaimed, " send him
to me ! Let his eyes judge of me ! Let him come and
behold beauty, that his soul may be pleased, and his heart
scorched ! "

A lover of mirth, and delighting in so fair an occasion
for its full indulgence, De Ruyter bantered me about this
Princess of Yug, and Royal Highnessed me unceasingly.
He constituted himself the agent of the widow, and di-

A YOUNGER SON. 445

rected her proceedings ; he even offered to marry her as
proxy for me ; and added fuel to her fires by descanting
on my merits. The schooner was encumbered with bags
of coffee, tobacco, and sugar-candy, besides daily and am-
ple supplies of fresh and preserved fruits, flowers, and
provisions^ all enforced on my acceptance by the widow
of Yug. Meantime our interviews were frequent ; for,
although the Javanese are Mahometans, they conform only
to one portion of their religion, — that which in all super-
stitions is the most attended to, — the external. As to
their acts, they have no other limit than the extent of their
desires ; the women piously fulfilling that precept engraven
on their nature, — increase and multiply. I was almost
angry with Zela, who, instead of being jealous, was as
much amused as De Ruyter, and aided and abetted his
practical jokes. In her simple nature and true heart
suspicion could never enter. The torrid blood of her
Arabian father was made to keep temperate time in her
veins by being mingled with her Abassien mother's ; who
was born and bred in the chilly valleys of Mount Ellbrus,
the highest of that gigantic range, called the Caucasian
Mountains, which extend from the Caspian to the Black
Sea, and uprear their hoary heads amidst the clouds.

CHAPTER XXXII.

While the ship's
Great form is in a watery eclipse,
Obliterated from the ocean's page,
And round the wreck the huge sea-monsters sit,
A horrid conclave, and the whistling wave
Is heaped over its carcase, like a grave.

Shelley. — Translation.

Among the innumerable little islands, scattered in the
gulf of Sunda, De Ruyter had, in one of his former
cruises, been becalmed ; and, while exploring and sound-
ing, had accidentally espied, foundered on a bed of rocks,

M6

ADVENTURES OF

the hull of a small vessel, apparently of European build
He carefully marked on his chart the spot, and took th»
most minute bearings of the compass and nautical observ-
ations, with the design , at a future period, of making an
attempt to get her up. The weather, which was now
settled, clear and calm, prompted him to proceed in the
affair ; particularly as he must be still some time detained
at Batavia, and the crews were growing rusty and unruly
from idleness. Having prepared what, was necessary, and
provided a gang of the most expert divers, fellows kept in
practice by diving under the ships' bottoms at night, to
rip off the copper sheets, we got under weigh with the
land-wind, and, the ensuing day, lay becalmed off the
little group of five islands, which was our destination.

We now got out our boats : after pulling about all day,
under a sun so hot that our brains seemed undergoing the
process of frying, we happily, before the night set in, hit
on the very spot marked by De Ruyter; but, the day
closing, we were compelled to desist till daylight. We
ran the boats on shore on a pretty island, supped and
slept; then, with the earliest dawn, we pushed on our
discovery, till we came on the identical foundered wreck.
The water was transparent as glass. By sounding on the
hull of the wreck, we found there was not more than
twenty feet water from her deck; and that, lying on
rocks, but little sand had collected near her. We laid
down a buoy to indicate the spot, and returned to the
vessels, which were drawing near to take us on board,
impelled by sweeps ; for so still was the wind, that the
feathered vanes above the lofty truck drooped motionless.

With lines, halsers, grapnels, and the other necessary
materials, not forgetting the divers, we again went towards
the submerged vessel. As I gazed below, long and
steadily, so perfectly was every portion of her visible, that
she forcibly reminded me of those models of ships inclosed
in glass-cases — the rough and jagged bed on which she
lay resembling the mimic waves which sometimes surround
them. Even the heaps of shell-fish that now incrusted
and peopled her deck with marine life, and the living sea-
verdure of weeds and mosses, might have been as distinctly

A YOUNGER SON. 447

noted and classed as if exhibited on a table. When the
dark divers descended on her decks, the glass-like element,
as in a broken mirror, multiplied their forms, till they
seemed to be the demons, hidden in her hold, rushing up
in multitudes to defend their vessel, assaulted even under
the sanctuary of the mighty ocean.

After many fruitless efforts and long- continued toil, we
succeeded in getting a purchase on her. Then by sinking
butts of water, carefully securing them to the tackle affixed
to the wreck, and restoring their buoyancy by pumping
out the water from them, at length we moved her, and
passed strong halsers under her. On the second day the
grab and schooner were placed on each side of her, the
number of casks was increased, and we hove on many and
complicated purchases, till she was fairly suspended, and,
at length, her almost shapeless hull reluctantly arose to
the surface. It looked like a huge coffin, in which some
antediluvian sea- colossus had been entombed. The light
of day shone strangely on her in crusted, hoary, and slimy
hull. Sea-stars, crabs, crayfish, and all sorts of shell-
fish crawled and clung in and about her, amazed at the
transition from the bottom of the cool element, in which
they had dwelt, to a fiery dealh from the sun, whose rays,
darting on their scaled armour, transfixed them as with a
spear. We turned to, and, by baling, partially cleared
her of water : so that it was evident, although she leaked
considerably, she was not bilged. The deck and main-
hold had been cleared, either by the water or by the people
of Sumatra, whose fishing-boats might possibly have come
athwart her ; but the after-hold, which was battened
securely down, protected by a double deck, and bulk-
headed off, was untouched. I forgot to mention that, as
we were baling, we disturbed a huge water-snake at the
bottom of the hold, which the men had mistaken for the
bite of a cable, and that he speedily cleared the decks.
Either he had a taste for shell-fish, or preferred a wooden
kennel to a coral cave. We made a simultaneous and
vigorous attack on him with pikes and fire-arms ; yet it
wTas not till he was gashed like a crimped cod that he
struck his flag, and permitted us to continue our work.

448 ADVENTURES OF

The divers said he might have eaten them when they
were under water ; — I know not that, but can aver that
the men, more ferocious and greedy than the snake,, did
incontinently, now that he was out of water, eat him.

Having towed the wreck towards the island, we grounded
her in shoal water, and forced a passage into the after-hold.
It was of course filled with water : kegs and casks were
floating in it; these were hoisted out, and having baled
it dry, we got at the moveables, consisting of sacks of
damaged grain, powder-barrels, and a heap of other
articles difficult to define, all jammed up together. In
poking and raking amongst this mass, according to De
Ruyter's prognostication, two small boxes, carefully lashed
and sealed, were hauled out, which, on being opened,
lightened and repaid us for our toil — they contained above
eight thousand Spanish dollars, dyed black with the salt
water, as were, more or less, the vessel and every article
on board of her. After ransacking every hole and corner,
we could find nothing else worth the taking away but five
or six brass swivels, not of much value. We abandoned
the wreck, and returned to Batavia.

I should observe that the vessel was apparently of
Spanish construction, and built of cedar or teak, which,
notwithstanding it had lain submerged certainly half a
century, and probably much longer, was still of so hard a
texture that it turned the edges of the axes. What I
considered the best portion of the prize was, not the
dollars, but two barrels of Spanish and other wine, and
two of arrack. Give me the sea for a cellar ! Such
delectable fluid never till then moistened the lips, delighted
the palate, warmed the heart, and entranced the senses !
All grew panegyrical and eloquent on the excellence of
this liquor. The old Rais declared the wine resembled
the balsam of Keireish, brought from Mecca by the
Hajjis ; that the shrubs from which the gum exuded
sprung from the blood of the prophet's tribe, slain in
battle ; and that it not only cured every malady, and
subdued every evil, but had restored true believers to
life !

A VOUNGER SON. 449

CHAPTER XXXIII,

Fierce, wan9
And tyrannising was the lady's look,
And over them a gnarled staff she sho<;k. Keats.

The ghost of folly haunting my swee*- dreams. Ibid.

Rumour having arrived at Batavia that we had discovered
a bank of Spanish dollars, by running aground on them,
from which we had loaded our vessels, and that we had
fished casks of wine out of the sea, with the date 1550
marked on them, hooped with living serpents, the grab
was crowded with visiters, all anxious to drink the wine
or arrack. Had either of them been the real elixir of
immortality, it could not have been more devoutly hal-
lowed, or more greedily swallowed. The greasy Dutch
merchants congregated on board, and spent the night in
chanting hallelujahs to express their delight; so that,
had we not at the commencement substituted other wines
and spirits, we should have expended the real stuff at one
bout. As it was, it consoled us afterwards, during many
a weary night of storm and toil, and suppled our joints
when they had become rigid and brittle from heat and
drought.

Our prizes were disposed of, and Be Ruyter did not
neglect the interests of the Bombay captain, his prisoner.
His much-cherished vessel was once more made over to
him at a price below the lowest estimate, and himself and
crew were liberated. This, and what else was needful,
being concluded, we again weighed anchor, and took our
departure from Java.

The widow of Yug was astounded at the intelligence of
our going out of port for an indefinite period. Love over-
coming her antipathy to the sea, she followed us in a
row-boat, screaming, making signals, and scratching —
thank Heaven, not me, but herself! Her melo-dramatic
fury augmented to such a pitch, when she found I did
not heave-to for her, that the devilish breeze she kicked

G G

450 ADVENTURES OF

up astern of us seemed to freshen the land-wind. With
my telescope I could observe her venting a portion of her
wrath on the slaves who rowed the boat, keeping time
with the lusty strokes of a bamboo on their naked backs.
Aware that a man has no more chance with a woman,
armed with the offensive and defensive weapons of tongue,
tears, nails, and bamboo, than in a river with an alligator,
I, for the first time in my life, acted prudently, and fled
the fight. The widow of Yug, had her spirit not been
clogged with clay, might possibly have pursued me round
the world ; but as soon as the boat got into the swell
outside the port, and began to pitch and toss, I discovered
my princess — or rather, I did not, for she had sunk
down in the bottom of the boat, which was slued to the
right-about, and without delay vigorously impelled towards
the shore ; so that I may say of her —

" She loved and she towed away."

I had been so pestered and persecuted by this she-
dragon, who one day crammed me with kisses and cakes,
and the next would have tattooed me with her nails, that
I vowed henceforth never to be lured into a widow's den ;
for the malignant ferocity of a tiger-cat in a gin, is
nothing to a veteran widow balked of her will.

I cannot tell why it was, but, as we left the harbour of
Batavia and its begrimed water, the clear, pure, deep blue
of the Indian ocean, which, since I had commanded the
schooner, had always filled my heart with delight, now,
on the contrary, overwhelmed me with sadness, that I
could neither shake off nor repress. Doubt and dread
clouded my mind for the first time. Yet I was well in
health, and Zela (for I questioned her) was perfectly well ;
and this was authenticated by the regularity of her pulse,
the brightness of her eye, her coral lip, and her breath
sweeter than the odour from May-flowers on a spring
morning. What then could it be ? not the widow ! —
her love and her parting curses were forgotten ere her
boat was out of sight. Did her spirit cling to me like a
vampyre? I remembered afterwards that, in her male-
dictions, she had so threatened to haunt me if I abandoned

A YOUNGER SON. 451

her ; and there were rumours, which 1 laughed at, of her
having dealt foully with others. Human life is held
cheap in the East ; and, at Java, a few rupees sufficed to
hire an assassin to stab or poison, — and poison was there
indigenous, it flowed from trees and shrubs, nor were the
natives inexpert in its application. It did not, however,
appear to have been employed on me ; and now I was out
of its reach. Once, I remember, in the early part of the
evening, dosing on the couch, I was awakened by frightful
visions. At first the widow was caressing me, and I
shrinking from her embraces with repugnance. She faded
away, when the wrinkled and withered form of an old
yellow hag seized me by the throat, griped me hard, and
attempted to force through my clenched teeth a fruit she
held in her hand. I struggled to free myself by wrench-
ing back the fiend's icy fingers ; but my strength aban-
doned me, and the fruit was at my lips, when the faithful
Adoo appeared, plucked it from me, and exclaimed, (C It is
poison!" Then came the fiery Javanese prince mounted
on his blood-red horse ; his hoofs were on my head and
heart; when Zela, clothed in bright, glittering, white
robes, led by a dim spectral figure, black as night, threw
herself on me, and said, "I will die! — you shall live!"
At this the dark spectre unveiled herself, and I recognised
the livid and ghastly features of old Kamalia. With
witch-like solemnity she thus addressed me: — cc Stranger,
you are forsworn ! The best blood of Arabia you have
polluted ! Your heart is bruised, — my child's you have
broken ! "

Struggling to rise, I awoke. My head was dizzy, my
heart sick at the dreadful vision, which has haunted me
through life, and it is in vain I strive to forget it* In
my sleep it pursues me, and, ever as it recurs, it is the
more frightful, as it assures me of some horrible change.
Often since then have I arisen from my bed, haggard,
sick, and suffering agonies, such as none but devils or
inquisitors can inflict.

On the second day of our leaving port, steering a south-
east course, we fell in with two fine French frigates and a
g g 2

452 ADVENTURES OF

three-masted schooner, returning to Batavia from a cruise.
The lubberly fellows were elated at having chased an
English frigate and brig of war ; which, by the by, from
what I observed of their sickly, weak, and unsoldier-like
case, and disorderly condition, might have advantageously
brought them to action. By their description of the
English vessels I knew the frigate to be the one I had
abandoned ; and old Hoofs, I had always thought, was
fonder of farming than fighting. Like a blustering bully,
the French commodore, now that the enemy was out of
sight, talked valiantly of what he would have done, had he
come up with the Englishmen ; adding, ee When we saw
you, I thought we had got hold of the John Bulls."

De Ruyter's curled lip indicated his contempt of the
vaunter ; and he observed, as we returned on board our
craft, that the fellow had been so accustomed to run away,
the having chased, for once in his life, had capsised his
brains. " What a pity," he said, " that the French, who
excel all other nations in the theory of seamanship, and in
practical naval architecture, cannot find men to fight at
sea. They are like flying-fish, a prey for every fish that
swims, and for every bird that flies. From the oldest
records we trace that all other nations, powerful enough to
organise a naval force, have produced men able and worthy
to command with honour and glory. The naval annals of
barbarians, then of Greece, Rome, and Carthage, down to
the modern history of Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden,
Norway, Denmark, and England, have severally teemed
with naval heroes, who shed a bright lustre on the coun-
tries which gave them birth. France exhibits a solitary
exception, a dull obscurity, unenlightened by a single
bright page ; a blotted chapter in history, a waste log-
book ; the eye in vain seeks for one spot to rest on, a
single star, as a beacon or sea-mark, to guide the lonely
pilot, or stimulate to emulation the aspiring sailor -boy !"

I may here remark, that this large and beautiful French
frigate was afterwards captured in an action with one of
the smallest English frigates, and now carries the British
jack. In her first cruise, under the victorious flag of
England, she again added to our naval force, by takings

A YOUNGER SON. 453

after a very sanguinary and gallant action, another of
France's finest frigates in the Indian seas.

We stood along the eastern coast of Java, towards the
Sunda Islands, and fell in with nothing but the small
vessels bound or belonging to that archipelago, burthened
with cargoes of coir, oil, jaggeree, ghee, and cocoa-nuts,
richer to them than Spanish galleons of gold and silver,
but in our eyes too worthless to waste a thought on.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

And their baked lips, with many a bloody crack,

Suck'd in the moisture, which like nectar stream'd ;

Their throats were ovens, their swollen tongues were black

As the rich man's in hell, who vainly scream'd

To beg the beggar, who could, not rain back

A drop of dew, when every drop had seem'd

To taste of heaven ; — if this be true, indeed,

Some Christians have a comfortable creed. Byrj.\.

Hence shalt thou quickly to the watery vast ;

And there, ere many days be overpast,

Disabled age shall seize thee; and even then

Thou shalt not go the way of aged men,

But livefand wither, cripple, and still breathe. Keats.

A long- continued gale of wind drove us down towards
the coast of New Holland. When it had broken, and
while we were labouring in the heavy swell which followed,
we discerned a small boat, evidently in distress, and we
wore down to her aid. Owing to the swell, and the wind
having moderated, it was some time ere the grab succeeded
in getting alongside of her, to take her crew on board,
which consisted of four sailors and a master's-mate.
They belonged to an English frigate, which, having cap-
tured a small brigantine, had put them on board to take
charge of her. The prize had been separated from the
frigate by a white squall in the straits of Sunda, damaged
in her masts and rigging. A north-wester, against which
they could make no head, had driven them a long way to
the south-east. In this hapless state their frail and crazy

Q Q 3

454 ADVENTURES OF

bark had been struck abaft by a heavy sea, which had
loosened her stern-post, and shattered the frame- work of
her stern. The water poured in so fast, that it was only
by the greatest promptitude and dexterity they had suc-
ceeded in getting a clumsy boat, which lay amid-ship, afloat,
just as their vessel foundered. They had no time to secure
any thing but themselves; a boy and two men were
drowned, probably in attempting to save something. The
boat was as old and worthless as the vessel to which she
belonged ; and, till she was somewhat seasoned in the
water, they were all occupied in baling with their caps,
and in stuffing, with rags and coir-oakum, the crevices
and rents which the sun had made. Fortunately the boat,
as she lay on board, had been used as a receptacle for old
spare canvass, oars, light sails, the fag-ends of ropes, and,
what was now of far greater importance, a coop with six
ducks, an old, grisly he-goat, and a hen, that had demurely
laid its egg, as an offering, for its undisturbed sanctuary
in the sheltered part of the bow, where it had probably
rcosted for years in solitary security. The seamen thanked
Providence as they beheld their live-stock. Being up to
tl eir knees in water, dripping with water, water having
destroyed their vessel, and now threatening to overwhelm
them in its foaming billows, and with an ocean of water
all around them, some time elapsed ere the awful words
were uttered, " There is no fresh water in the boat ! "
Every voice echoed, in preternatural sounds, " There is
no fresh water ! " Every eye wildly glanced at the boat,
and around the sea, and again was despondingly muttered,
e( There is no water ! Oh, God ! we must perish ! "

Anticipated thirst soon parched their lips, and their
stout hearts quailed. Other clangers, past and present,
were forgotten. A leaky, rent, mis-shapen boat, hardly
big enough to contain their diminished crew, as it lay
floundering in the trough of the sea, like a harpooned por-
poise, was nothing — if they had but water. Fortunately
their officer, though the youngest among them, was the
ablest and manliest, at least in mind ; by which boon,
nature had amply compensated him for a somewhat slender
and delicate form. He had a spirit greater than was con-

A YOUXGER SON. 455

tained in the broad breasts of the brawniest and the
bulkiest. Evil fortune had persecuted him in many shapes ;
she kept him at the bottom of her wheel, but could not
crush him. He rallied the sunken spirits of his men ;
he told them they were near land ; they had sails ; there
was wind enough to fill them ; the boat, though broken,
was buoyant ; they were few in number ; thirst could be
borne for days ; besides, they had live-stock, and their
blood was nearly as refreshing as water; and the clouds
gave promise of rain. The men knew their officer, and
had confidence in him. His calmness and fearless bear-
ing did more than his words. The hopes he had so con-
fidently expressed seemed realised. They grew calm, and
their reason and obedience were restored.

The mate having succeeded, if not in rendering his
boat-water tight, yet in diminishing the leaks, so that it
required but occasional baling, next set about putting sail
on the boat. For this purpose he selected an old flying
jib, and, with a broken studding-sail- boom for a mast,
contrived the best and safest form of carrying canvass that
could possibly be contrived, representing what sailors call
a shoulder-of-mutton rig, the larger part (or the body of
the sail) being in the body of the boat, To be driven into
the South Indian Ocean, a desert world of waters, was
certain and inevitable destruction. In order to avoid this
it was necessary, at all risks, to haul his wTind as much as
possible to the eastward, with an oar for a rudder. With
consummate skill he, in some degree, effected this ; but it
required an unerring eye and steady hand to keep his
ricketty and rudderless boat from being buried beneath
the threatening waves, or capsised by the furious blasts
which swept over it. They had neither compass, chart,
nor instruments to guide them on their lonely way ; no-
thing but the stars and sun — the latter, glaring and
fiery, they hardly dared to look at. Their only hope was
to make one of the Sunda islands, or, failing in that, the
coast of New Holland, or to be met by some wandering
bark.

Thus day and night they toiled on, laving, at long in-
tervals, their white and parched lips with the blood of the
gg4

456

ADVENTURES OP

panting goat, which was itself expiring for want of mois-
ture. Every glazed eye scrutinised, with horrible preci-
sion, the accuracy of the measured allowance, apparently
numbering the red drops, as doled out by the officers in
scanty portions. The animal was then cut up, and its
interior, which still contained jellied blood and some mois-
ture, was balanced and divided with the care and exacti-
tude with which a miser weighs his gold. The mate said
he merely extracted the fluid, chewing but not swallowing
the substance, and endeavoured to impress on his com-
rades the advantage of following his example. A few did,
but the greater part could not control the fierceness of
famine raging in their vitals. cc At this," the mate added,
ee from the torture I experienced, I did not wonder ; but
the event proved I was in the right. For, by not eating,
I endured thirst better ; and, after a few days, I had no
inclination to eat, feeling a relief by keeping some sub-
stance in my mouth, no matter what, to chew ; — tobacco,
of which there was a little, was the best. We all watched
with painful and intense anxiety the formation and changes
of the clouds. Every speck in the heavens was commented
■ on and scrutinised, its form, density, and altitude. At
last, after successive hopes and disappointments, our eyes
dim and our hearts sick, we beheld a dark and heavy
cloud, evidently surcharged with rain, coming towards
us. Those who have seen, or can conceive, the exhausted
pilgrim, parched and perishing on a desert, wading through
shifting mounds of scorching sands, with feeble gait and
maddening brain, when his wistful and eager eyes catch a
first glimpse of the distant well, may faintly imagine what
were our sensations. When the first drops touched our
shrivelled lips, and fell on our throbbing temples, every
gasping mouth was distended wide to heaven for the fall-
ing manna ; our parched throats heaved and swelled like
the waves. Fervent prayers were muttered by men who
would have died in battle blaspheming ; but they availed
not; the watery cloud, on which their lives were sus-
pended, mockingly displayed its riches, niggardly sprinkled
them with a few scanty drops, as a sample of the inestim-
able treasure it contained, and fleeted onwards, till they

A YOUNGER SON. 4-57

Deheid it mingle its waters in waste — in the briny
ocean ! They covered, in despair, their inflamed eyes
with their cracked and spongy hands, and groaned in
agony ! "

But who can go on describing tortures such as these
men endured, every instant augmenting, comprising an
eternity of immitigable sufferings though marked in the
calendar but as seven days and seven hours ? — a space
so fleeting, to the free and happy, that it passes by and is
scarcely noted, while on these forlorn seamen seven days
did the work of seventy years. With rheumed, glassy,
blood- shot eyes, haggard, wrinkled, and hollow cheeks,
sunken mouth, swollen, slaty, and cracked lips, contracted
nostrils, thinned and whitened hair, collapsed muscles,
feeble and tottering gait, sepulchral and inarticulate voices,
gabbling more like brutes than men ; can the extremest
age to which human existence has yet been stretched, with
all its withering palsy and impotency, do more ? In seven
days and a few hours, youth, intellect, strength, were thus
blasted ! Let me be scorched to death in a volcano, blown
into the air from a cannon, buried alive in the earth,
drowned in water, but let me not die by wanting it !

Two, in their frenzy, threw themselves in the sea,
slaked their thirst in its briny waters, and died under its
cool canopy. One, after lying in idiotic insensibility,
burst into fierce, yelling madness, tore the living flesh
from his limbs, sucked his own blood, lay down, slept,
and awoke no more. Four, besides the officer, remained
on the seventh day. The sky, the ocean, the boat, every
thing looked burning red and fiery. They had no hope
when, on the morning of the eighth day, we rescued them
from their shattered boat. What a crazed, wild, and
ghastly band were they ! — more like corpses uncharnelled,
than living men. The weakest of the party, the mate,
seemed alone to have retained his senses. After he was
hoisted on the deck, and had collectedly looked around^
he said, " We are dying the death of the damned ! —
Give my men water ! " Then, as if his last duty was
performed, he pointed to his frothy lip, but could not
speak; and the spirit which had borne him up whilst

458 ADVENTURES OF

contending with danger, now released from its post of
duty, seemed to flee away, and his body sunk down life-
less. Certainly he would have died, calm and unshaken
as he had lived, but for the skill of De Ruyter and Van
Scolpvelt, who arrested the flight of life while hovering on
his lips. After long struggles, lying convulsed with pain,
his strength slowly returned, when the first intelligible
and connected words he uttered were, " Who are you ?
the devil ? " — (this was to Van the doctor) — " where
am I ? " Another long interval elapsed, during which
his intellect was besieging its abandoned citadel, when
consciousness was restored, and he said, " Where are my
men ? Have they got water ? Let me see them, — poor
fellows ! " On reiterated assurances that all their wants
were supplied, he asked for water for himself. A small
portion was put to his lips. Like all the fluids which had
been administered to him and his men, a very small
quantity was swallowed ; the larger portion came up again
tinctured with blood, the swollen and inflamed glands
having nearly stopped up the windpipe. His breast and
temples were kept continually moistened with vinegar and
water, which diminished his pain. He constantly re-
peated, " This is not hell, for in hell there is no water."
Bleeding and bathing proved to be the most efficacious
remedies ; but for these, De Ruyter thought they could
not have been saved. Yet, after all, and with the whole
skill of Van, we were only successful in preserving the
mate and two of the men. One died raving mad ; and it
may be observed that he had drunk of sea-water, and par-
taken of the blood of the man who had died mad in the
boat,. The other had secretly and voraciously seized on
the old hen, which he had appropriated to himself. The
inflammation in his throat completely closed up the pas-
sage, and, bursting a blood-vessel, he too died. The re-
maining three were long subject to violent retchings and
convulsive fits, to which it was believed they would be
always subject.

The mate's recovery was the most decisive and rapid.
This young man, whose name was Darvell, remained long
on board with us, and I commenced a friendship with him

A YOUNGER SON. 459

in the off-hand way of sailors. We liked each other, and,
without saying a word on the subject, hecame friends for
life. His was a short one ; as it has been with all those
to whom I have linked myself, and they are many, — or
rather, they were many. At the age of thirty not one was
left me. Friendship is dead to me ; nothing is left but
its memory. Never more will friendship's balm refresh
my withered heart. Meaner things have had their mau-
soleums, their columns, and their pyramids ; on me de-
volves the task to write the epitaphs of my departed friends,
and it shall be done by narrating their deeds. I have
said Darvell's life was short ; his restless and daring
spirit forced him on from danger to danger, ever the leader
of that devoted band called the forlorn hope, but no
longer of the pretorian phalanxes of kings. His riper
judgment shook off, with disdain, the fetters which had
manacled him in boyhood. Darvell, on his return to
Europe, became a leader of the forlorn hope of the heroic
few, who are to be found in the van of those fighting for
liberty. No sooner was the flag of freedom unfurled in
the New World by spirits like his own, than he hastened
to join their ranks. His bleached bones may still glitter
on the yellow sands of Peru ; where the small vessel he
commanded was driven on shore and wrecked, in a chival-
rous action he fought with a Spanish force ten times his
superior.

CHAPTER XXXV.

This Paphian army took its march
Into the outer courts of Neptune's state, Keats.

Whence came ye, merry damsels ! whence came ye ?
So many, and so many, and such glee ? " Ibid.

The gale, having for some days abated, was followed by
a calm, in which we lay pitching and tossing, owing to

460 ADVENTURES OF

the heavy swell, without advancing, like a rocked cradle,
or the beating time of soldiers with their feet. The ele-
ments, like those who live in them, rest after toil ; and,
in tranquil waters and balmy breezes, we regained the lee-
way we had lost, keeping a north-east course, till we soon
found ourselves amongst the Sunda islands, which spangle
the eastern ocean, thick, bright, and countless as the fleecy
clouds of a mackerel sky in summer, defying the patient
and indefatigable toil of successive navigators to designate
or number. They were of all forms and sizes, beginning
from the embryo coral reef, over which swept the yet un-
wrinkled wave, where nature's minutest architect was at
work, carrying on her mightiest designs ; that little dark
artificer laying its foundations under the ocean, where
mariner's plummet-line could never sound, and uprearing
islands and uniting them into vast continents. Those
already completed were fair and beautiful, with mountain
stream and valley ; lawns, and deep dells, covered with
forests, fruits, and flowers ; Edens where nature sponta-
neously yielded all that men should want. The listless
islanders, as we approached them in our boats, seemed to
gaze on us with wonder at the folly of the strange people,
who could wander restless about on the desert waste of
waters, in barks built of trees, under groves of which they
dosing] y lay, pampered by their fruits, never thinned to
form even a canoe. By signs we made known our want
of water and fruit ; they pointed to the stream and the
trees. They neither aided nor opposed our landing, and
procuring what we wanted.

Many lovely islands were uninhabited ; others might be
considered as civilised, for they had commerce, vessels, and
arms, with their never- failing attendants, war, vice, and
robbery. At some distance from the large island of Cum-
bava we fell in with two large fleets of proas, engaged in
desperate conflict. There being scarcely any wind stirring
at the time, the night was closing in ere we approached
them near enough to interrupt their naval contention.
When I observed to De Ruyter that I supposed the navies
of these islanders were contending for supremacy over the
sea, he replied, " Or fighting for a cocoa-nut !" — for he

^A YOUNGER SON. 46 J

perceived they were cur friends, the warlike Malays, whose
proas were attacking the cocoa-nut-trading proas of Cum-
bava, and the Celebes, whose merchant-fleets had combined
against the men-of-war of the former. He added, ic The
Malays have met their match ; for both these islanders are
heroically addicted to fighting, and wall perhaps unite
together and attack us — so clear your decks."

During the night it was calm, and at day-break the
Malay fleet paddled towards us : the traders, keeping an
opposite course, were soon out of sight. The Malays
evidently were deceived by our appearance, and mistook us
for traders, as a few shots from our heavy guns changed
their war-whoops to shrieking cries, and they fled in dis-
order. Shortly after, we brought-to on the easternmost
side of the island of Cumbava, continuing to seize every
opportunity of supplying our vessels with fresh provisions,
and most of the islands furnishing us with an abundance of
bananas, shadoc, cocoa-nuts, cabbage-palm, jams, and
sweet potatoes, and many with wild hogs, fowls, and fish ;
so that we lived well, and had little sickness.

While we lay at Cumbava, bartering for what we wanted
at a small village, we had all supped on board the grab.
I was returning to the schooner with Zela, the night being,
as was usual, exceedingly clear and calm, when I heard a
blowing and splashing in the water near the shore, as from
a shoal of walrusses, and its calm surface was broken and
glittering with sparks of light, bright as fire-flies. Zela
said, —

u Hasten on board ! — the natives are swimming off
from the shore ; and I have heard my father say they often
attack vessels by this mode of quietly surprising them."

I hailed the grab, which was just ahead of me, gave
them warning, hastened on board, and roused up the men
to arm themselves. Then, standing on the gangway, I
clearly distinguished a multitude of dark heads, with long
black hair floating on the water, rapidly nearing us. We
hailed them in half a dozen languages, but received no
other answer than a loud flapping in the water, and a
shrill chirping sound, more like a flock of these birds by
sailors called Mother Carey's Chickens, getting on the wing,

402

ADVENTURES OP

than the approach of warriors. Some of my men wanted
to fire on them ; hut I, observing that, whatever they were,
they were unarmed, forbad it. Zela and her little Adoo
cried out, —

u Why, they are all women ! — what do they want ? "
And so they were.

A loud and simultaneous laugh burst from the grab, and
my quarter-master, holding a night-glass, exclaimed, —

ec Look, captain, there be a shoal of mermaids a-boarding
the grab ! "

Still not knowing what to make of it, I ordered our fierce
and armed sailors to stand back, and waved my hand,
making signs for the floating visiters to come on board.
This was quickly understood, and, in a few minutes we
were boarded in all directions by these aquatic ladies, who
clambered up by the chains, the gangway, the bow, and the
stern, till our deck was covered. There was no doubt as to
the sex of these our unexpected assailants ; and our men,
with their pistols, cutlasses, and boarding-pikes, cut a
ridiculous figure enough as they confronted women, who,
so far from having arms of offence, or being scaled in
armour of defence, had no other weapons than what nature
had furnished them with, and no other covering than an
immensity of jetty long hair. Yet, in justice to the ladies,
I must say that many of them, if not fair, were young,
sleek-skinned, and of pretty Moorish features ; but I was
so entirely devoted to Zela, that my thoughts never veered
for an instant to any other. True it was, I had been
boyishly indiscreet enough to give into the joke of banter-
ing and playing pranks on the widow of Yug. I had
better have played them on the stealthy and malignant
panther ; for what is so relentlessly and dastardly cruel as
a vicious and disappointed woman ? But, vanish, accursed
retrospection ! Keep aloof from me, memory, thou subtle
and intruding devil !

With the dawn of day the amphibious females assembled,
like a flock of teal, on deck, having gleaned the sailors*
offerings of buttons, nails, beads, old shirts, waistcoats,
jackets, and other discarded clothing, with which they had
ridiculously bedizened themselves. The vanity of the sex

A YOUNGER SON. 46^

was now in high excitation ; for I observed, as they strutted
about in their motley-coloured attire, partially covering
their persons, one in a check shirt, another with a white
jacket, some with only a solitary stocking or shoe, and
others with gaudy handkerchiefs instinctively applied to
their heads, that they scanned, with watchful eyes, which
among them had got what they considered the most valuable
present. At length they all became fixed in astonishment
and jealousy, at beholding a frightful squaw, who had suc-
cessfully insinuated herself into the good graces of the
quarter-master, whom she had so bewitched, that he, with
princely prodigality, bestowed on her a robe of honour, an
ancient scarlet waistcoat ! This was the identical vest that,
sparkling on his broad chest, had caused such devastation
in the hearts of the fair damsels at Plymouth, and to which
he confessedly owed much of his good fortune, having won
the heart and hand of a celebrated west- country belle from
a host of suitors. All the water-nymphs, at the sight of
this brilliant squaw proudly stalking among them, like a
queen pre-eminent, clapped their hands with a divided
feeling of envy and delight ; then shrieked, and, eager to
avoid comparison, hastened to hide their inferior decora-
tions by plumping headlong into the water, chattering and
clattering like sea-mews till they reached the land.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

The earth, whose mine was on its face, unsold,

The glowing sun and produce all its gold ;

The freedom which can call each grot a home ;

The general garden where all steps may roam ;

Where Nature owns a nation as her child,

Exulting in the enjoyments of the wild ;

Their shells, their fruits, the only wealth they know,

Their unexploring navy the canoe ;

Their sport the dashing breakers and the chase ;

Their strangest sight an European face. Byron.

To avoid a repetition of these nocturnal orgies, we got
under weigh, threading cautiously, and with difficulty, the

404 ADVENTURES OF

groups of islands ; many of which were unknown, or un-
marked on any chart. At some we landed, while our
vessels lay off and on, awaiting us; and, in calm weather,
we anchored at others, where we generally found fruits and
water. Although De Ruyter, hesides his being an able
navigator, had the advantage of much personal knowledge
of the Indian archipelago, yet we had much to contend
with ; for the multitude of local currents, in the space of
a few leagues, ran to every point in the compass ; and
often were so impetuous that our vessels, even with favour-
able breezes, were hurried along in contrary directions to
each other, and to the course we were steering. Sometimes
we were driven through channels of coral reefs, embayed
by shoals, out of which we had infinite difficulty in groping
our way with the lead. Many times we thus parted com-
pany, and more than once jostled together. Besides the
momentary fear of being wrecked, the toil and hardship
we endured is not to be described ; although our vessels
were admirably adapted for the intricacy of the navigation.
At sea, scudding fast in a fine vessel, , or, on the desert,
galloping on a fleet horse, I have felt my blood, hurrying
through its channels, tingling with pleasure ; but, like all
pleasures of strong excitement, they are short-lived, and
dearly purchased by the painful lassitude which follows
such enjoyment. On the other hand, I have felt my
soul thrilled with rapture, unalloyed by retrospection or
deadened by satiety, in wandering over and exploring
unknown, or at least unmarked, and uninhabited islands,
in the Indian archipelago, accompanied by my Zela.
Gazing in mute astonishment at every fruit, herb, tree, and
flower, our very ignorance of their names and properties
enhanced our admiration. Even those we were familiar
with seemed of a more exquisite description. The forma-
tion and hues of the rocks, sands, shells, and weeds, to our
enthusiastic and untaught eyes, resembled nothing we had
previously seen. The very sea around, the noise of the
surf, the sky, the clouds above, the untainted atmosphere
we breathed, the birds, the lizards, the insects, and larger
animals, appeared new and strange. Injhat awful solem-
nity of nature, undisturbed by human innovation, carrying

A YOUNGER SON. 465

on her works in beautiful grandeur, Zela scrutinised, with
girlish delight, some little unknown floweret, whilst I stood
entranced, gazing on a titanic treee, on whose wide-spread-
ing branches monkeys and parrots had formed their king-
doms, and under whose broad shade an army might have
stood sheltered. We often thought ourselves to be, and
perhaps we were, the first intruders on these hallowed
solitudes. The birds and beasts viewed us with wonder,
but fled not. They thought, or rather I thought for them,
" What, is man Pt last come here? Not satisfied with
what he calls usurping the four portions of the globe,
must his dominion spread over the fifth, some space of
which is yet untenanted by him ? Has Providence, like
a step-father, abandoned his first children, robbing us of
our birth-right, leaving us no place where we may rest our
weary wings ? Why is life given us to be taken away for
man's pastime, to be tortured to pamper his insatiable
appetites? He is a monster, endowed with sovereignty
over Nature's works, only to mar and destroy them V

As I am not writing a history of discovery, I leave to
be described, by more systematic circumnavigators, with
all the honour and profit thereunto accruing, every one of
these islands, now comprehended in the fifth division of
the world ; limiting myself, as at starting, to simply the
history of ray own life, and that which is immediately
connected with it.

After a long and circuitous navigation we made the
Aroo islands, one of which none that has seen can ever
forget. It lies in the centre of the group, and far surpasses
all that the most imaginative of eastern poets has conceived.
The birds of the sun (or, as they are usually called, birds
of Paradise) are natives of this paradise ; as is the lory,
whose varied and distinctly marked colours exceed in
brightness the rarest tulips. Then there are the mina, of
deeper blue than the sky, with crest, beak, and legs out-
glittering gold, the wild peacock, and an infinity of little
scarlet humming-birds, dazzling the sight with their ex-
treme beauty ; while the spices on which they live fill the
air with sweet smells. Zela screamed with joy, and wept
to go on shore ; but the wild islanders forbad it.

H H

466 ADVENTURES OF

Getting a distant view of Papua, or New Guinea, we
kept a northerly course for a few days; but, our salt pro-
visions becoming scanty, we changed our course to the
westward, and returned by a parallel line, till we arrived at
the Dutch spice-island of Amboyna. Here we found them
in all the bustle of an expected attack by the English, to
which, however, the governor did not give credit; and
De Ruyter was too politic to give him his real opinion
on the subject, lest efforts might have been made to detain
us, in order to assist in their defence, or, at least, our
supplies would not have been attainable. We therefore
hastily purchased what was necessary, or rather what we
could get, took our departure, and soon after captured a
small vessel, being the third prize we had made on this
cruise. She was freighted — or, as the quarter-master,
who prided himself on correct orthoepy, persisted in saying,
frighted — with cloves, mace, and nutmegs. We tran-
shipped the spicery, and let the vessel go.

Our next destination was the island of Celebes, which
we made without encountering any event worth recording,
and anchored off Fort Rotterdam, at Macassar, a Dutch
settlement, as the name of the fort indicates. This island
lies between Java and Borneo ; it is shaped like a huge
tarantula, a small body with four disproportionately long
legs, which stretch into the sea in narrow and lengthened
peninsulas.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

But feast to-night ! to-morrow we depart I

Strike up the dance, the festal bowl fill high,

Drain every drop ! to-morrow we may die. Byron.

We were all delighted, after our long, fatiguing, and
anxious navigation among the islands, to find ourselves
securely moored in a beautiful harbour near to a very pretty

A YOUNGER SON. 4$7

European town, which supplied all our wants. For some
days the discipline on board was relaxed, and we revelled
in the enjoyment of abundance, and the luxury of undis-
turbed rest ; which can only be duly appreciated by those
who have hungered and toiled. Several Dutch vessels were
lying here, bound to the spice-islands ; from these we re-
plenished our stores of European articles, such as wine,
cheese, biscuits, and an ample supply of genuine skedam,
which poor Louis used to say was indispensable as the
rudder and compass.

As a neutral vessel lay in the port, we shipped Darvell,
and the men we had rescued, on board her. Both De
Ruyter and myself parted from that gallant young officer
with deep regret. In those days of my youth my heart
was glowing with feeling, and, as has been seen, readily
formed alliances with noble minds like Darvell's. Such
men as he (though I cannot believe there are many) may
still live ; and, perhaps, occasionally, I may come unknow-
ingly in contact with them ; but my heart is chilled, and
my affections almost extinguished. I no longer feel my-
self moved to claim kindred with them ; my soul is ab-
sorbed in selfish and vain regret for those I have loved and
lost, and shrinks from new ties, if not with loathing, yet
with cold indifference. I am become ascetic and morbid ;
so I will not slander human nature by contracting Darvell
and the friends of my youth, such as they were to me, with
the worldlings among whom I now associate, and whom,
with sneering mockery, I designate as Ci dear," on every
scrap of paper which necessity compels me to address to
them, either for the purpose of an invitation to dinner, or an
appointment for a duel. Let me, however, although no verbal
critic, protest against the profanation of the word friend,
In this my history I must be honest, make a distinction
between the oriental diamond and its worthless imitation of
paste, and separate the grain from the chaff — gossamer
words, that weigh nothing, from substantial realities heavier
than gold. With heartfelt reluctance I parted with Darvell,
and it is painful for me now to dismiss him with so faint
an outline as 1 have traced on this paper.

De Ruyter having discovered the grab's bowsprit to be
h h 2

4>SS ADVENTURES OF

sprung, and both vessels being in want of spars, we got
under weigh, and went round to the bay of Bonny on the
southern coast. In this most spacious and magnificent of
bays we anchored close to the shore; and, after De Ruyter
had communicated with the Rajah, who issued orders to his
subjects, the Bonnians, not to molest nor interfere with us,
we sent the carpenter and a party of men to select the
timber. While De Ruyter was employed in striking his
masts and unshipping his bowsprit, we overhauled the
schooner's rigging, and set about destroying the rats and
other vermin; which, by the by (I mean the rats), in some
measure compensated for the damage they had done to the
ship and provisions, by furnishing, in their own persons,
to hungry mariners, a not unpalatable relish, besides many
an hour's excellent sport, in which we used to hunt and
spear them. At one period, I remember, we had run so
short of provisions, and what we had was so salt, hard, and
unsavoury, that the price of a brace of rats on board of us
rose to a quarter dollar; while the Borneo breed, long bodied,
short legged, round quartered, sleek skinned, and fine eared,
were readily disposed of at a fraction more. When skinned,
split open, sprinkled with pepper and salt, and nicely
broiled, they furnish a salubrious and piquant relish for
breakfast. The hind quarters were then as exquisite to my
palate, as the thighs of woodcocks, and the tainted haun-
ches of venison, are to shore-going grand gourmands. But
the daintiest viands soonest pall on the palate ; I had been
surfeited with turtle, and, revelling on the bountiful sup-
plies we got from the shore, rat-diet became nauseous, and
we cleared out the schooner to be rid of them — centipedes,
scorpions cockroaches, and other intruders. Doctor Van
Scolpvelt provided a villanous composition, the smoking
fumes of which, he averred, would smother all the devils
in hell, if he could hermetically seal its gates. We distri-
buted this kill-devil hell-paste in several parts of the vessel,
ignited it, and battened down the hatchways, destroying,
Ci at one feel swoop/' all the reptiles which infested and an-
noyed us. This, and clearing and restoring the schooner's
hull and rigging to that nice order on which sailors pride
themselves — for no eve is so fastidious and critical as a

A YOUNGER SON. 4:dQ

sailor's — stowing the holds, cutting wood, getting water,
sending the sick on shore, repairing the sails and casks,
setting up the standing rigging, and other matters, kept all
hands at work for a considerable time.

While this was going on I made frequent excursions on
shore, and maintained a friendly intercourse with the
Bonnians, who, next to the warlike Malays, were the people
I best liked ; they were friendly, frank, hospitable, honest,
enterprising, and brave. The Dutch policy here was the
same as that employed by the English on the continent of
India — the exciting and fomenting intestine wars among
the native princes, in order to secure and augment their
own possessions; besides, on the part of the Dutch, reaping
the collateral, and, indeed, principal advantage of being fur-
nished with the prisoners of war for slaves, whom they
exported to Java and the spice-islands. In other respects
their settlement on this island was convenient, as maintaining
open a line of communication with their other residencies
in the East. In the great bay of Bonny there was a fine
river, leading to a large lake in the interior, which the
Rajah wisely forbad the Europeans from surveying, well
knowing the covetousness of their eyes, as he said, was only
10 be exceeded by the rapacity of their hands.

In one of my excursions around the great bay, I had pro-
vided myself with a sean for fishing, and weapons for the
chase. As we were pulling along the shore of the south-
ernmost point, we opened, through a somewhat narrow
entrance, to a smaller bay. It was perfectly calm, but the
ground- swell rolled in heavily, and we heard the surf
breaking on the shelving-beach at its extremity or bottom;
above which arose a small, but rocky and rugged hill, bare
on the sides, but crowned with majestic timber and patches
of underwood. On each side of the bay the land was high,
broken, and shelving, with jagged and rent rocks, whose
sharp points continued in successive lines, bearing a most
forbidding and inhospitable aspect. The prolific and rife
vegetation of the East appeared vainly struggling for exist-
ence on its arid surface. Only those low and creeping
plants thrived well, with wiry roots to insinuate themselves
into the fissures of the hardest stone, till, swelling into

470 ADVENTURES OF

wedges, they break through them, and enter the hard crust
of the earth. Around the entire margin of this bay, formed
like a horse-shoe, was laid, I suppose by the waves, a
carpet of the finest and smoothest sand ; its yellow surface
here and there strewn with glittering shells, and bones
bleached by the salt-water and the sun, but without a
single pebble. The general transparent blueness of the
water, indicative of its depth, and the absence of rocks and
shoals, were the more remarkable as contrasted with the
peculiar abruptness and ruggedness of its shores, on which
there did not appear enough of level surface for the foun-
dation of a fisherman's co£, nor were there any signs of
human habitation.

Impressed with the idea that this bay must be an ex-
cellent place to haul the sean in, I determined to try it ;
and putting the helm up, impelled by the swell, we ran the
boat directly in. I luffed to, about midway down, and,
running the boat, on the weather or sea- side, slap on the
beach, the sides of which were nearly as steep as a wash-
ing-basin, we landed our tackle, and a small tent I always
carried with me for Zela. We again launched the boat
with the sean, the men pulling deeper into the bay for a
shallower and more favourable place for hauling it. Zela
and myself strolled along the beach, collecting specimens of
the finest shells I had seen. On the first cast of the sean,
near the bottom of the bay, where the water was shallow,
and the tide just turned, coming in, we had the heaviest
haul of fish I ever saw or heard of, and of the most varied
and finest kind. We literally heaped them up on the
beach like hay-cocks ; and continued, in sheer wantonness,
to cast and draw, so highly were the men excited, till our
eyes became satiated. In spite of the truism that the eye
is a thousand times more insatiable than the mouth, for we
had no more than seven mouths to fill, we toiled on,
robbing the ocean of enough to cram the maws of a famished
fleet. At last the greediest imagination was surfeited ; and
every man selecting what he thought it possible to carry,
not eat, each bearing more than would have sufficed the
party, we retraced our steps to where we first landed, lighted
fires, and then man might truly have been designated a

A LOUNGER SON. 471

cooking animal, for all were cooks. The sportsman's brag,
that he don't toil to fill the pot, was here belied ; for we
devoured the produce of our sport with a greediness that
begot a general surfeit.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

And under the caves,

Where the shadowy waves
Are as green as the forest night ;

Outspeeding the shark,

And the sword-fish dark,
Under the ocean foam. Shelley.

I left Zela with her Malay handmaidens, and, aided by a
boar-spear, ascended, with one of the men, an Arab, the
rough rocks to overlook the bay. In my youth I loved
climbing and scrambling up rocks and mountains : now I
seldom intrude on the dweller of a second story, and my
greatest enemy or friend may avoid me altogether on the
third ; so humbled is the aspiring spirit of my youth. We
wound our way along the precipitous sides of the rude
barrier, which encompassed us, towards the bite, or bottom
of the bay : and, rather wearied, gained a rude and jutting
ledge of rocks, forming a small platform, nearly half-way
to the summit. There I seated myself, lighted my pipe,
and looked down on the entire bay, which lay under my
feet; and, further onwards, the bay of Bonny, which, banked
in by the islands on the sea-side, appeared an extensive
lake. Looking down on the water, its aspect was flat and
unruffled : many of the picturesque proas of the natives
were scudding in with the last of the sea-breeze. On the
narrow strip of bright sand, which lay round the water like
a golden frame to a dark, oval Venetian picture, lay our
little boat, the fishing-net drawn over, and its ends spread-
ing along the beach, like a black spider veiled in its grey
web. ^f

h h 4

472 ADVENTURES OP

My hawk-eyed Arab now pointed out to me a line of
dark spots, moving rapidly in the water, rounding the arm
of the sea, and entering the great bay. At first I thought
they were canoes capsised, coming in keel uppermost ; but
the Arab declared they were sharks, and said, u The bay is
called Shark's Bay: and their coming in from the sea is an
infallible sign of bad weather." A small pocket-telescope
convinced me they were large blue sharks. I counted eight;
their fins and sharp backs were out of the water. After
sailing majestically up the great bay till they came opposite
the mouth of a smaller one, they turned towards it in a
regular line; one, the largest I had seen any where, taking
the lead, like an admiral. He had attained the entrance,
with the other seven following, when some monster arose
from the bottom, near the shore, where he had been lurking,
opposed his further progress, and a conflict instantly ensued.
The daring assailant I distinguished to be a sword-fish, or
sea-unicorn, the knight-errant of the sea, attacking every
thing in its domain ; his head is as hard and as rough as a
rock, out of the centre of which grows horizontally an ivory
spear, longer and far tougher than any warrior's lance :
with this weapon he fights. The shark, with a jaw larger
and stronger than a crocodile's, with a mouth deeper and
more capacious, strikes also with his tail, in tremendous
force and rapidity, enabling him to repel any sudden attack
by confusing or stunning his foe, till he can turn on his back,
which he is obliged to do ere he can use his mouth. This
wily and experienced shark, not daring to turn and expose his
more vulnerable parts to the formidable sword of his enemy,
lashed at him with his heavy tail, as a man uses a flail,
working the water into a syllabub. Meanwhile, in honour,
I suppose, or in the love of fair play, his seven compatriot
sharks stood aloof, lying to with their fins, in no degree in-
terfering in the fray. Frequently I could observe, by the
water's eddying in concentric ripples, that the great shark
had sunk to the bottom, to seek refuge there, or elude his
enemy by beating up the sand ; or, what is more probable,
by this manoeuvre to lure the sword-fish downwards, which,
when enraged, will blindly plunge its armed head against a
rock, in which case its horn is broken ; or, if the bottom is

A YOUNGER SON. 473

soft, it becomes transfixed, and then would fall an easy prey.
De Ruyter, while in a country vessel, had her struck by
one of these fish (perhaps mistaking her for a whale, which,
though of the same species, it often attacks), with such ve-
locity and force, that its sword passed completely through
the bow of the vessel ; and, having been broken by the
shock, it was with great difficulty extracted. It measured
seven feet : about one foot of it, the part attached to the
head, was hollow, and the size of my wrist ; the remainder
was solid, and very heavy, being indeed the exquisite ivory
of which the eastern people manufacture their beautiful
chess-men. But to return to our sea-combat, which con-
tinued a long time, the shark evidently getting worsted.
Possibly the bottom, which was clear, was favourable for
his enemy ; whose blow, if he succeeds in striking while
the shark is descending, is fatal > I think he had struck
him, for the blue shark is seldom seen in shoal or discoloured
water; yet now he floundered on towards the bottom of
the bay, madly lashing the water into foam, and rolling and
pitching like a vessel dismasted. For a few minutes his
conqueror pursued him, then wheeled round and disap-
peared; while the shark grounded himself on the sand,
where he lay writhing and lashing the shore feebly with his
tail. His six companions, with seeming unconcern, wore
round, and, slowly moving down the bay, returned by the
outlet at which they had entered. Hastening down to the
scene of action, I saw no more of them. My boat's crew
were assembled at the bottom of the bay, firing muskets at
the huge monster as he lay aground ; before I could join
them, he was despatched, and his dead carcase laid on the
beach like a stranded vessel. Leaving him and them, I
ran along the beach for half a mile to regain Zela's tent.

474 ADVENTURES OP

CHAPTER XXXIX.

And all my knowledge is that joy is gone,

And this thing woe crept in among our hearts,

There to remain for ever, as I fear. Keats.

When close upon the tent, I caught the sounds of
moaning and wailing within. Stooping down at the
low entrance, I saw the sand spotted with blood. I
burst through the canvass screen, and stood motionless
as marble ; and my heart felt as heavy and cold. My
eyes dizzy, my senses bewildered, I gazed on what I
thought the lifeless remains of Zela, stretched out like a
corpse. Her black and dripping hair, in bloody and
tangled masses, over her pallid bosom, looked like a
dark shroud. Her eyes and mouth were half closed ; she
was unconscious, insensible. The Malay girls knelt by
her on each side in despair, sobbing, tearing their hair,
and rending their garments. They made signs to me as I
entered, but Zela absorbed every faculty. I made an
effort to approach ; I tried to speak ; but, heart-struck,
I staggered, and should have fallen, had I not grasped the
stancheon which supported the tent. With my eyes fast
riveted on Zela, I thought I saw her eyelids move ; then
the sound of her voice thrilled through my frame, and
recalled my fleeting faculties, though her words were in-
articulate. Kneeling by her side, I loosened her vest,
put my hand on her heart, and felt it moving. I pressed
my lips to hers; they were white, but still warm with
life. I raised her head, and rubbed her hands ; the blue
veins on her beautiful eyelids, forehead, and neck swelled
out, and a slight flush of crimson spread over her. She
opened wildly her large dark eyes, reminding me forcibly
of the first time I had encountered their magic fascination.
i( Dearest Zela," I stammered out, (i what is the matter ? "
She gazed on me, as if with an effort to collect her
powers of mind, and, in her low musical voice, answered,
slowly and distinctly, — " Nothing, love, if you are here.

A YOUNGER SON. 4? 5

I am well — very well. But you are ill, — you appear
very ill."

She then made an effort to turn on her side, but groaned
with pain, and fell back powerless. After closing her
eyes for a minute, she again opened them, and said, <e Oh,
yes ! I remember I have had a fall, and hurt myself a
little, — nothing more. Oh ! where is Adoo ? — she fell
too, — do, dear, see to her ! I shall soon be well."

I looked at the Malayan girl, who was supporting her
on the opposite side. Her face and hands were streaming
with blood; but, without wasting a thought on herself,
she was watching Zela as eagerly as I had done. She
dried her eyes with her hair, and her dark features bright-
ened as her mistress gave her a look of recognition. I
interrogated her as to Zela's hurts; she pointed to her
head, and several parts of her body. Angry at my folly
in having, for an instant, neglected that on which so much
depended ; and, inspired by the overwhelming reaction of
hope, with a hand that had never trembled till then, I
examined her wounds. After having persuaded her to
drink some wine and water, she in vain besought me
(never till then in vain) to first attend to Adoo. Even
had I consented, the true-hearted little barbarian, although
bleeding to death, would have died uncomplainingly, ere
she would have permitted me to stanch her blood while
her mistress's was flowing. The wounds on Zela's body,
head, legs, and arms were many ; yet (and I had some skill
in surgery) they did not appear to me dangerous. Her
insensibility had been occasioned by the blows on her
head, and by loss of blood. There were severe bruises on
her side and back, which gave her the greatest pain ; and
their consequences filled me with dread. But now that
animation was restored, and with it her presence of mind,
she contrived to lull my fears, and strengthen my hopes.

My attention was then directed to Adoo, at whom
Zela shriekingly pointed. The poor little girl, whom I
had hardly noticed, the instant her fears for her mistress
had in some degree subsided, fell senseless on the sand. Her
legs and one of her hands were almost cut through, and the
sand, where she had been seated, was in a puddle from

476

ADVENTURES OF

the quantity of blood she had lost. I tore the remainder
of my shirt into bandages, stanched and bound up her
wounds ; but, with every care, it was long ere she gave
indications of returning life.

The sailors had been for some time assembled round the
tent, anxious to ascertain the fate of those within : they
were ignorant of the circumstance, having been drawn
down the bay watching the sharks. I went out, and
ordered them instantly to prepare the boat for returning
on board. The cockswain pointed to the sea, and said, —

(C The boat can't live, sir, in such weather."

u Weather ! — why it is a calm ! "

I looked at the great bay, and beheld with dismay that
one of those squalls, so frequent in tropical climates,
had suddenly come on. Savage at this new evil, and the
dreadful consequences of delay, which might be fatal to
Zela, I ran to the pointv and, ascending the rocks, the first
blast of the gale, which caught me, would have borne me
over them, had I not held on with my hand. It was
blowing a complete hurricane — the sun had disappeared
in the gloom — night prematurely was setting in — the
sky was black and lowering, and the sea was an entire
sheet of foam.

It did not require an instant's thought as to the total
impossibility of venturing out in such weather. The
clouds too seemed surcharged with thunder and water ; I
therefore hastened back with the men, and we all turned
to, hauling the boat up high and dry, and securing the
tent by every possible means. The boat-sails and tackle
were added — the sand was channelled all round — rocks
were placed on the tent-pegs, and dry wood collected for
firing. Luckily, we bad a keg of water and bread in the
boat, with some other necessaries I never left the ship with-
out, and, what was of the utmost importance, a lantern.
With the darkness the storm increased, and, in eddying
gusts roared up the bay with a force that seemed to rock
the hills.

During the night we were all kept on the alert, first
to prevent the tent from being blown away, and then
from being washed into the sea by the floods or rain

A YOUNGER SON. 4? 7

which followed. So loud and continued was the thunder,
reverberating among the hills, that it was like the deafen-
ing explosions when rocks are blasted in a tunnel, or in a
deep mine. As I walked to and fro on the beach, in me-
lancholy forebodings, I wished the lightning would rend
the rocks on each side, till, crumbling down, they filled up
the bay beneath, and buried us all together. The invo-
cation I made then, I have never revoked : would that it
had been accomplished !

CHAPTER XL.

Thy cheek is pale
For one whose cheek is pale : thou dost bewail
His tears who weeps for thee. * * *
* * * * 'Tis she ; but, lo !
How changed, how full of ache, how gone in woe! Keats.

The rain having lulled the wind, to keep Zela as much as
possible from the wet sand, I sat down, leaning against the
tent-pole, and supported her in my arms. On the morn-
ing I learnt the following particulars. She said —

" Two hours after your departure — Oh, would you had
never left me ! for I feel it is not your fate that hangs on
me, as you have often told me, but mine on yours ! Why,
then, did you not let me go with you to the mountain ?
You have seen me climb, and have said nothing but the
lizard could follow me."

I answered, i( Yes, but remember you were then as
light as a bird ; now your weight is increased by the bur-
then you have within you. Our first child prematurely
lost its life by your rash exertions in saving its father/'

" Could I hesitate to sacrifice my child to rescue its
father ? A child's life, weighed in the balance by a wife's
hand, is but a feather against the heavy loss of a husband.
Besides, who, that is an orphan, would willingly bring

478 ADVENTURES OF

into this cruel world a being so helpless and wretched as
itself?" S

After giving vent to her feelings, she proceeded to sa-
tisfy my first inquiries regarding her present situation, and
said, cc I strolled along the beach to the point of rocks at
the entrance of the bay, and, coming to a sheltered and
shady place, I determined to bathe with Adoo,— the water
looked so smooth and cool. The other little girl was
posted to prevent intrusion. Then, knowing you admire
the coral trees, which grow under the water, and seeing
some very beautiful ones, I told Adoo to dive and bring
me up a branch. It was of the deep crimson, which you
said was the best. Owing to its brittleness, it was a long
time before we could get an entire one. While we were
still looking about, we heard a great noise in the water
near us ; and Adoo, who, you know, has good eyes, saw
something coming in from the sea, and told me there were
benetas jumping about in play, a sign of bad weather -at
hand. She then told me she saw you coming along the
beach, and added, e I can swim better than you, and will
be the first on shore to welcome him.'

" She swam faster than a fish, and I scolded her for her
ill-natured exertions to shame her mistress, for I had
vowed to be the first on land. She continued to jeer and
mock me, until she landed on a rock, difficult to ascend,
high out of the water, and slippery with weeds and moss.
At that instant I heard the other girl, whom I had left as
sentinel, shriek out, — ' Sharks! — sharks !' I thought she
was bantering, and was still hesitating, when I knew by
her face she spoke the truth, and endeavoured to get up
as Adoo had done. She stood on the verge of a ledge of
rocks. The loud flapping of the sharks was behind me,
and I heard the seamen shouting. Adoo stooped down,
and gave me her hand ; hastily I caught hold of it, and
tried, with all my strength, to climb up. Adoo held my
right hand ; with my left I seized on some sea-weed. My
alarm added to my weight, already too heavy to be sup-
ported by such helps, and the sea- weeds gave way. Adoo
would not let me go, nor could her feet cling to the slimy
sea-grass, so that we both fell. Yet she did not fall upon

A YOUNGER SON". 4? 9

me, or I must have then died ; — poor girl ! she threw
herself headlong on the low rocks, and I fell on my side.
The coral rocks are sharp, and I must have lain there, had
not Adoo and her companion got me out of the water, —
I know not how. 1 knew nothing more till I awoke, and
found myself here in great pain. Then you came ; and
since that I have been better, much better ! "

Continuing to repeat ec much better ! " Zela sunk into
a restless sleep, exhausted by loss of blood and intense
pain. I knew, by experience, that such unquiet slumbers
is not refreshment ; it is but depriving us of the conscious-
ness of where and how we are afflicted. The brain is then
crowded with horrid shapes and imagined tortures, far
worse than realities, such as the most cunning of human
tyrants could never devise. I sponged the dewy drops
from her throbbing temples ; her groans smote my heart.
It was evident that the internal injuries she had received
were worse than I had apprehended ; exterior wounds
could not so convulse her. Gloomy forebodings filled my
mind, and almost tempted me to antedate, what I dared
not contemplate, her loss, by ending my fears at once,
and our lives together. My pistols lay by my side, and
my eyes were fixed on them, when one of the seamen
came to the door of the tent, and told me the squall had
blown over, and the weather was clearing.

We waited another hour for the swell to be moderate,
during which time we made the boat as commodious
as possible. The tent was struck, and, every thing
being in readiness, I carried Zela on board ; and after-
wards Adoo, who would allow no one to touch her
but myself. The men, to show they felt for one who
never spoke but in kindness, and never appeared amongst
them but to confer some favour, exerted their utmost
strength at the oars to expedite our passage. Still the
waves were rolling in heavily from the sea ; but that was
in our favour ; and the boat, constructed for whale-fish-
ing, floated lightly, and moved almost as rapidly as a sea-
swallow ; though, at that time, I did not think so. I re-
lieved the men alternately at the oars ; and my intense
anxiety and impatience was assuaged by physical labour.

489 ADVENTURES OF

We pulled the distance, which was little less than three
leagues, within two hours. The grab's deck was crowded
as we flew past her ; the men perceived by our rapidity
that something had happened, and .De Ruyter inquired
what was the matter. Without replying to his question,
I begged he would lose no time in coming on board the
schooner with the doctor. In the schooner also I saw the
men ranged along the gangway ; and, in another instant,
we shot up along-side of her. A chair was soon slung,
lowered from the main-yard into the boat, and Zela was
hoisted on the deck. Without speaking a word, — indeed I
could hardly distinguish the features of the crowd of
familiar faces gazing on us, — I bore her directly into the
cabin.

The doctor and De Ruyter were quickly on board.
When they entered the cabin and beheld the change which
four and twenty hours had made in Zela's beautiful face
and form, De Ruyter, involuntary shuddering, closed his
eyes, and pressed his hands over his face ; while the
hitherto impenetrable doctor, who, except on hearing of
Louis' death, had never shown the least sympathy with
human woe, now took the glasses from his eyes, and wiped
them. Then, with a tenderness foreign to his usual prac
tice, he proceeded to unbind and examine the wounds of
his gentle patient. Not a question was asked by either of
them ; and, during the whole process, no other words were
spoken than the brief account I was compelled to give for
the instruction and guidance of the doctor.

The most learned in human physiognomy might have
gazed for ever on Van's unchanging features without a
chance of reading his thoughts. After dressing her
wounds, he carefully examined the bruises on her body,
and, giving her a preparation of opium, left her. I fol-
lowed, and warmly essayed to fathom his thoughts. He
was struck by the alteration in my bearing towards him ;
for, when suffering in my own person from wounds cr
sickness, I had still maintained my bantering and jeering
manner, and often vexed him beyond endurance. But
now my pride was humbled ; for I had faith in Van's
skill, on which all my hopes depended, and was meek, and

A YOUNGER SON. 481

obedient as the most abject slave to the most imperious
and powerful of masters. It is almost needless to say
that the poor faithful attendant, Adoo, lacked little of the
care that was bestowed on her mistress. She was laid on
the opposite couch ; and it was evident her strength was
greater, or her sufferings infinitely less acute; for her
features had undergone but a slight and nearly impercep-
tible change, whilst Zela's were so contracted by spasms,
that she was scarcely to be recognised.

CHAPTER XLI.

Thy voice was a sweet tremble in mine ear,

Made tuneable by every sweetest vow,

And those sad eyes were spiritual and clear ?

How changed thou art ! how pallid, chill, and drear ! Keats.

Save thine, <s incomparable oil," Macassar .' Byron.

After watching Zela till she slept, I went on deck, where
I found De Ruyter waiting for me. I gave him a de-
tailed account of all that had led to this fatal calamity; for
I could not divest myself of a conviction that it would ter-
minate fatally. His arguments to the contrary, although
they were rational and wise, could not shake my belief.
Firmly fixed was the presentiment that the spring-tide,
which had borne me on triumphantly to the attainment of
perfect happiness, was turned, ebbing back to the sea, and
that mine and my happiness would be left a stranded
wreck. To relax the tense chords, strainingly drawn from
heart to brain, De Ruyter endeavoured to divert my
thoughts to the discussion of other topics. He told me he
had, on the previous evening, received intelligence, coming
through an infallible channel, that the Governor-general of
India had, at length, determined on fitting out an expedi-
tion (with the details of which he was in possession), for
the wresting of the Isle of France out of the hands of the
French.

Ci It has been made known to me," said De Ruyter,
i r

482

ADVENTURES OP

" through my correspondent, an Armenian merchant, who
resides at the seat of government, and has found means of
diving to the very bottom of every council held there.
This enterprise has been long, very long, in contemplation ;
but now they have resolved to carry it into execution.
This will materially alter my plans. We have no time to
lose ; we must exert ourselves to the utmost in expediting
the refitment and equipment of our vessels."

At another time this would have aroused me, had I been
bed-ridden with a jungle-fever ; but now, in the most
animating part of his discourse, while detailing the naval
and military force to be employed, and the names of their
respective commanders, a death-like torpor, which had
stolen up my limbs, and weighed on my body like lead, at
length ascended to my eyelids, which it sealed, and I fell
into the profoundest sleep I can remember. De Ruyter,
as I afterwards discovered, had carefully covered me with
flags, and placed a sentinel over me to prevent my being
disturbed. Since Zela's accident, I had not taken food ;
and De Ruyter artfully induced me to drink a cup of
strong coffee, under the plea of keeping me awake. This
he had drugged with opium, to enforce that rest, without
which he foresaw my strength of body and mind would be
prostrated. I did not awake till the evening, and won-
dered how I could have enjoyed such a long and undis-
turbed sleep at such a time.

I hastily descended to the cabin, and found the doctor
examining his patients. They were both sitting up, sup-
ported by cushions. The Malay girl was considerably
better, but Zela's mind only seemed to have benefited;
her bodily sufferings had undergone no change. Her face,
which before was rosy, bright, and pure as the first tints
of morning, was now shaded with the dim hue of sickness :
her eyes were dull, and her lips without colour. De
Ruyter and the doctor remained on board us during the
wearisome night, the greater part of which I passed in the
cabin, supporting Zela in my arms, where alone she seemed
to find relief.

The next day, in compliance with De Ruyter's wish to
prepare for sea, I returned to my duties. He kindly

A YOUNGER SON. 483

offered to relieve me from them ; but I mechanically re-
sumed my business, as formerly, and active employment
was of the utmost service in preserving the strength of my
body, which otherwise would have sunk under the weight
of my tortured mind. No longer, as before, was I above
fate and circumstance, therefore happy ; but full of evil
forebodings. My heart was swollen by painful emotions,
rendered still more trying by the necessity of repressing
them. On the third day, when Zela's sufferings became so
gnawingly acute as to threaten a speedy termination,
scarcely was I sensible; I possessed only a half kind of
feeling that death was a most desirable end; and when
those violent throes and writhings ceased to convulse her
frame, when she sunk into a helpless, senseless torpor,
when she lay so motionless that I thought she was dead, I
stood over her with a fierce firmness, startling the iron-
nerved doctor, and exclaimed, " She is then dead ! "

Van was then holding her tiny wrist between his gaunt
finger and thumb, and answered, " You are ignorant. She
lives. The crisis of" her danger is past. She is no more
dead than I am ; she is asleep."

His words were as balsamic oil. The stern, the painful
rigidity of fortitude, to which I had worked myself, re-
laxed into softness, with the same feeling of composure, as
when our fibres are released from the grasp of a spasm,
and are lulled into repose ; and such was the relief Zela
then experienced. Satisfied with the truth of this, I went
on deck as one revived, and beheld the scene shining beau-
tifully under that magic light, in which it is the privilege
of joy to clothe the world. My spirits became, as it were,
embalmed in bliss. I hastened on board the grab to com-
municate my happiness to De Ruyter and the old Rais.
Every man participated in my joy for the restoration of
her, whose kindness, courage, and gentleness had pene-
trated the breasts of the roughest, and impressed their
stubborn hearts with admiration.

Once more was I alert in my duty, no longer an indif-
ferent spectator. The news De Ruyter had heard he now
retold me ; and, having completed our repairs, we weighed
our anchors and put to sea. The Rajah, with whom De
i i 2

4S4t ADVENTURES OF

Ruyter was on friendly footing, gave him, at taking leave,
a large quantity of different oils and balsams, for which
this island is as celebrated as Java for its poisons. Among
the rest was a large proportion of kiapootee and colalava
oil, and the oleaginous extract from a fruit-tree, since that
period become so notorious in Europe (by name I mean) —
Macassar oil. I may mention here that it was some of
this very oil, given by the Rajah to medicine Zela's hurts,
that, on my return to England, through the means of a
servant, found its way into the hands of a perfumer; it
was a quart bottle, and must have possessed the miraculous
properties of the widow's cruise of oil. Certainly the pure
vegetable, gelatinous oils of this island and the Moluccas
are beneficial both to the skin and hair ; for the natives, in
the two essential articles of beauty, surpass all the world,
and retain them even in extreme age. Indeed, I never re-
member to have there seen grey hair or bald heads ; and
even the aged retain their suppleness of limb and softness
of skin. This I should have attributed to their fine cli-
mate, simplicity of diet, and abstinence from ardent spirits,
were it not that many other nations participate in these
advantages, without enjoying the same results ; therefore I
think their balsamic oils must possess a rare virtue. The
bald head of Socrates may have added dignity to his ap-
pearance ; but the bald cocoa-nut shaped skulls of modern
mortals are disgusting, and to them I ccmmend the liberal
use of the oil of Macassar — if they can get it.

In this voyage, De Ruyter's object being exclusively to
return, as speedily as possible, to the Isle of France, it was
determined not to run out of our course, nor be diverted
from our main design, either by putting into any one of
the islands near which we might pass, or by giving chase
to any vessel except such as were steering in the same di-
rection. In passing the straits of Sunda, De Ruyter ran
in near enough to communicate with the shore by a boat,
but did not anchor. He had an interview with the
governor, General Jan sens, at Batavia, and received a con-
firmation of the news he had heard at the Celebes. Taking
in a few boat-loads of fresh provisions, we forthwith pro-
ceeded on our voyage. De Ruyter's wish was, in our long

A YOUNGER SON. 485

run across the Indian ocean, from the straits of Sunda to
the Isle of France, that we should make the best of our
way, without the detention of keeping together. Besides,,
as accidents might happen to one of us, either by falling in
with English men-of-war (for intelligence had reached us
that a squadron of frigates was in those seas, bound, as was
conjectured, for the Isle of France), er by squalls, or
calms, or by one of the thousand disasters attendant on a
long voyage, the risk would be lessened by our holding dif-
ferent courses, as then one of us might be calculated on to
reach his destination, on which the fate of the French set-
tlement seemed to hang. For this purpose 1 had been
furnished with duplicates of the despatches, with full
power to act in De Ruyter's name in his own particular
affairs. But all these prudent and wise considerations
were overruled by my anxiety, indeed by the urgent neces-
sity for Doctor Van Scolpvelt's attendance on Zela, who
continued in such a state of debility that it was still doubt-
ful if she would not sink under it. Van's skill had tri-
umphed at a moment of the utmost peril ; in saving her
life he had bound me to him for ever ; his medical know-
ledge, that had been heretofore so lightly thought of by
me, I now reverenced as a superhuman attribute, belonging
to him alone. It was therefore fixed that we should, run-
ning all chances, keep together ; except in the event of our
being pursued by an enemy of superior force, when it
would be indispensable for us to separate and make our
escape.

CHAPTER XLII.

O vulture witch, hast thou never heard of mercy?

Could not thy harshest vengeance be contents

But thou must nip this tender innocent

Because I loved her ? Keats.

So, at last,
This nail is in my temple ! Keats' MS.

Ordinary events during a voyage do not bear relating.
A man might as well seek to be amused by perusing a

486 ADVENTURES OF

merchant's ledger as a sea common-place journal. Yet,
had it been otherwise, I must confess, such was my weak-
ness, that I was no longer capable of attending to, much
less of recording, the scenes, which, indeed passed before my
eyes, but left no impression on my mind, bright and vivid
at the moment perhaps, as the line of light shot by a star
through the heavens at night, yet as fading and transitory;
or like the sparkling furrow left by our vessel's deep keel
in the dark waters, expunged as soon as made. The
wings of my spirit would no longer bear me' up ; my
imagination remained hovering over the sick couch of Zela;
my mind was tinged with the melancholy hue of the
drooping object I contemplated. Ours were no common
ties ; she had been as a bird driven by the tempest from
the land, that sought refuge in my bosom ; and like a
darling bird, too delicate to be intrusted in others' hands,
I alone fostered and cherished her. Still the doctor, di-
viding his time between the two vessels, continued to pre-
dict her ultimate restoration to health ; but he confessed
the shock her delicate frame had received required time
and care.

We had been nearly a month at sea, and a certain
change for the better had taken place in her constitution.
After sitting up with her, as usual, all night, I lay slum-
bering uneasily on the deck under the awning, my mind
haunted by the horrible dream of the poisonous hag of
Java, when I was awakened by Adoo, who had nearly re-
covered from her wounds. By the agitation depicted on
her strongly marked features, I saw that something dis-
astrous had taken place. Before she could utter a con-
nected sentence, I was by Zela's couch. She was writhing
in extreme pain, and said that her stomach was burning.
I called to the mate on deck to make a signal to the grab
for the doctor, but she, unfortunately, was nearly out of
sight ahead, and it was almost a calm. Questioning Adoo
as to the cause of Zela's present state, she pointed to a jar
on the table, and told me that, her mistress not having
eaten any thing for a long time, she, with the other girl,
had hunted in the store-room for something that would
tempt her to eat. They found that jar of preserved fruit ;

A YOUNGER SON. 487

when her mistress, fond of sweetmeats, ate a great deal,
and gave some to the other little girl, who was seized with
the same pain after eating it. " Seeing my mistress liked
it," said Adoo, " I did bnt taste one of the fruit, and it has
made me sick. I am sure there is poison in that jar."

The wrord poison pierced my brain like a barbed arrow.
Looking at the newly opened jar, which had been closed
with more than ordinary care by a resinous gum, I emptied
out a portion of the fruit. They were a very fine sort of
the wild green and yellow nutmegs, preserved in white
sugar-candy. Had the small green snake, a native of Java,
whose venom is the deadliest of all its tribe, erected its
crest from out the jar, it would not so have shaken my
nerves. For I remembered I had, at the widow's, eaten
many preserved nutmegs from a jar, the counterpart of the
one before me, and that they had made me sick ; when an
old woman — a confidential slave of the widow, whose
heart I had won by giving her a small silver box to fasten
round the arm, containing a scrap of papyrus with a hiero-
glyphic charm, brought from Mecca, telling her it was a
passport to admit her, alone of all the sex, into paradise ;
then she looked at me, long and steadily, and said, " Have
you angered my mistress already?" I laughed at the ques-
tion. At that moment the widow came into the room in
high spirits, patted my cheeks, and ran away to make me
some coffee. As soon as she was gone, the old woman
again addressed me with, u I was going to say, if my mis-
tress is angry, and if you have eaten nutmegs prepared by
her hands, you had better keep to yourself the talisman,
which is to unlock the gates of paradise. You are too
young and too happy to go there. I once told a husband
of my mistress the same. He was a good man, and gave
my son his freedom. I told him not to eat nutmegs,
when, — ah ! — when — "

" And why not ? " I inquired.

"He asked me the same question," replied the old
woman. "But you men are ail infidels; you believe
nothing that women say if they are old, and, what is worse,
every thing if they are young. My mistress saw another
man she liked better ; and I heard her one day say bitter
i i 4

488 ADVENTURES OF

things of my master. The next day I saw her give him
those sweet things to eat, and he became sick ; when he
was carried out of the house, and another man came in,
and put on his slippers and turban. But I can read my
mistress's thoughts ; as yet she loves you, and will do you
no harm. So I shall keep the charm, for I shall want it
soon ; but mind you do not make my mistress angry, for
then she is deadly as the poison of the cheetic-tree, which
grows in the jungle, on which the sun never shines."

Our conversation was again interrupted by the widow,
and half a dozen slaves bringing coffee and cold water.
This warning made some impression at the time, for I de-
sisted from eating the most delicious sweatmeats in the
world ; and it had been strengthened, before I left the
island, by many corroborating stories from others. Often
had I afterwards congratulated myself on escaping from
her fangs, when sweltering with venom. Now the fright-
ful belief flashed on my mind, that the cunning strumpet,
aided by the devil himself, had, as it were, stretched her
arm across the Indian ocean to ship the poisoned jar ; for
by no investigation could I ascertain how or when it came
on board.

While I stood pondering over the accursed fruit, half
unconscious where I was,, I thought I could hear the fiend-
ish laugh of the widow mocking me, I thought I could
see her, as she stood in the stern of the boat, threatening
and cursing me as I left the harbour of Batavia, and began
to repay her with loud and savage imprecations, till Zela,
alarmed at my looks and gestures, believing me mad, forgot
for a moment her own agony, took hold of my hand, pulled
me on the bed, and soothed me with the softest accents,
assuring me she was getting better. She bade me lay my
head on her bosom, and she would rub it, for she saw the
veins were distended on it. She said, almost playfully,
(£ I can bear any pain but that of seeing you suffer. Your
looks, my love, affright me. Take this fruit," (giving me
a pomegranate,) " which the poet Haflz calls the pearl of
fruits ; and thus I imitate the example of the shell of the
ocean, to fill with pearls the hand which wounds it."

The calmness with which she talked deceived me for a

A YOUNGER SON. 489

moment : but this effort of her mind almost destroyed her
frail body ; for then she talked wildly and incoherently, the
subversion of her intellect foretelling the fatal issue that
was at hand. Every muscle and nerve was writhing, as
with a separate agony ; her features were distorted ; and
in vain I tried every method I could think of to alleviate
her pain. The poison was working on her vitals, and her
mental derangement was a relief.

When at last the doctor came and saw her, it was evi-
dent that even his science could not avail. He examined
the jar, compared the symptoms of his patients, and con-
fessed that my suspicions were well grounded. But I am
totally unequal to the task of narrating, step by step, the
ravages that the venom worked on her. She wasted, day
by day, till she became almost a shadow. I never left her;
and in her lucid intervals, which were few, she clung to me
with more than her wonted fondness ; and we mingled our
tears, renewing our vows never to part. The truest words
of the poet are, ei The love which is born of sorrow, like
it, is true." Sorrow was the parent of our attachment. I
remembered she once said to me, when revelling in health
and happiness at our hut in Borneo, u I saw you enter the
tent where I was a prisoner. All others fled. It was the
house of death. You- came, like an angel, to save. Though
you could not save my father, you avenged and consoled
him when dying. How then could I but admire you ?
When afterwards you attached yourself to me (by what
charm influenced I am yet to learn), my admiration was,
on the instant, love : for you approached me, and offered
those sympathies which are the smaller links of that in-
visible chain love delights to wear for ever ; because our
senses, says Hafiz, wait upon our imagination like the most
submissive slaves."

My God ! how shall I find words to tell the death of her
who had felt and spoken thus ? If all were concentrated
into one word, that could express my feelings, to give it
utterance would destroy my reason.

Picking the seeds from a pomegranate, and making ruby-
coloured letters on the bed, such as, in our happier days,
had been the means of conveying our ideas when ignorant

4£0 ADVENTURES OF

of each other's language, and singing fragments of Arabian
songs, were now her constant habits. One night she was
startled, in the midst of her wild notes, by a voice from
the deck calling out that the Isle of France was in sight.
She screamed out, u I am glad of it, very glad, dearest
husband. Only, love, take me in your arms to carry me
on shore ; I am too weak to walk." Then throwing
herself, with her last collected strength, into my arms,
as I knelt by her low couch, she clasped me round the
neck with her thin hands, and saying, — " Now I am
well and happy! I live in his heart!" — with her lips
pressed to mine, she yielded up her mortality !

CHAPTER XLIII.

Upon those pallid lips,
So sweet even in their silence ; on those eyes
That image sleep in death ; upon that form
Yet safe from the worm's outrage j let no tear
Be shed — not even in thought. Shelley.

Now let me borrow,
For moments few, a temperament as stern
As Pluto's sceptre, that my words not burn
These uttering lips, while I in calm speech tell
How specious heaven was changed to real hell. Keats,

To attempt to portray what I felt then, or even now feel,
when time and sorrow (though nothing like to this) have
almost dried up my heart, would be indeed walking in a
vain shadow, and disquieting myself in vain by it. The
followers of Mahomet are tutored, from their youth, to
suppress from the scrutiny of others all outward tokens of
the secret counsels of the heart. In the East this is impe-
rative as the law of self-preservation. In the West it is
done far more effectually, if not so generally, by those who,
a philosopher would suppose, were in derision misnamed
noble, whose feelings, if they are impregnated with any at
their birth (which is doubtful, considering the seed they
spring from), are eradicated with as much care as is be-

A YOUNGER SON. 491

stowed in Persia on the shoots and branches of the cherry
tree, designed for pipe-sticks, every bud that threatens to
burst through the rind being instantly rubbed off, to pre-
serve the smoothness and polish of the exterior. Whether
I had lavished on Zela the last tear of sorrow, or from the
benumbing effects which follow grief, or intense excite-
ment, I do not know ; but a torpor came over my mind,
encouraged by the liberal use of opium, which I then first
learned to use, like the Chinese, by smoking it through a
reed, and I rapidly acquired a stoical apathy of look, that
the gravest Turk, sitting In divan, or the most stick-like
lords,

" Fellows of no merit,
Slight and pufFd souls, that walk like shadows by,
Leaving no print of what they are,"

would have envied, and despaired of imitating. De Ruy-
ter, with all his knowledge of human nature, was perplexed
to account for so new and strange a transition of character.
To judge by my deportment, my years seemed trebled in a
day. He would have thought me mad, or fast verging on
that malady, but that all my actions demonstrated a method-
ical regularity and precision, which I had shown no signs
of in my days of happiness. I appeared not to mourn ;
and I never wept, nor uttered a single complaint. My
habits, which had before been sufficiently abstemious, occa-
sionally dashed by extremes of the contrary, were now un-
deviatingly such as the wisest would have applauded. The
driest and most monotonous duties, which I had hitherto
neglected, were now fulfilled with a scrupulous exactitude.
What was most strange, this change took place the instant
Zela's spirit left me. Her body was still on board.

But let me return to my story. Having informed De
Ruyter of my intentions regarding the remains of Zela, I
drafted the greater portion of my men on board the grab ;
and we then parted company. She went directly into Port
St. Louis, and I round to Port Bourbon, on the south-east
side of the island, where we had anchored on my first visit
to it. De Ruyter, after delivering despatches, which he
had brought from Java, and conferring with the governor,
was to ride over to me, accompanied by the doctor and the

402 ADVENTURES OF

old Rais. I had retained on board the schooner merely
sufficient men to work her, principally natives of the East,
the faithful tribe of a now chieftainless house. On the
same night I anchored in Port Bourbon.

During the short interval that, in such a climate, inter-
venes between death and decomposition, I had pondered
intensely on the least repulsive mode by which it was prac-
ticable to dispose of her remains. Death's common recep-
tacle, the earth, naturally first engaged my thoughts ; and
the arbour, made by our united hands, in De Ruyter's
garden, fragrant with flowers, seemed a fitting spot. But
as I remembered, when digging in the soil, the myriads of
disgusting worms and beetles, I shudderingly banished that
idea. The clear deep vault of the beautiful element which
I loved, and floating on whose surface both of us had
spent our lives — what could molest her there? — but my
imagination reverted to the horrid scene that had taken
place after Louis's interment. Then I thought I would
have the body embalmed, and treasure it with me through
life ; but there were so many insurmountable obstacles in
the way, I was compelled to deny myself that consolation.
At last I thought of the heathen ceremony of destroying
the body by fire, or rather not destroying, but restoring it
into its primitive state, by remingling it with the elements
of which it is an atom. The funeral pile, the purification
by fire; the simple, yet touching rites; the examples of the
god-like heathen philosophers, whose bodies had been thus
immolated ; all conspired to work on my mind, and fix my
determination to this point. De Ruyter approved of it,
and the doctor readily undertook to provide every thing
necessary, and gave his assistance in the execution of what
he was perfectly acquainted with by theory. For this
purpose I had anchored in Port Bourbon, as the most se-
cluded part of the island. There was no commerce there,
and no other habitations in or near it than three or four
paltry huts. The Dutch had, at some period, commenced
the foundation of a town there; but it had long been totally
abandoned, and its ruins were choked up with reeds and
rushes.

At the earliest dawn of day I pointed out a spot, deep

A YOUNGER SON. 493

in the bottom of the harbour, and sent a party of my Arab
crew to pitch a tent, and collect a large quantity of dry
fuel. Then, secluding myself in the cabin, I spent the
entire day — -the last in which I could contemplate her
who had been to me what the sun is to the earth.

The little Malayan girl, who had partaken of the poisoned
fruit, was still suffering from its effects. She was removed
to another part of the vessel. Either through the strength
of her constitution, unbroken by previous sickness, or from
the smaller quantity she had eaten, together with the anti-
dotes the doctor used, she not only lived, but hopes, though
faint, were entertained of her recovery ; — I had no feeling
left for her. Adoo had wept and moaned herself into a
stupid insensibility ; and it was only by force she could be
induced to take nourishment : yet I even gazed on her
with apathy, and her sighs and groans made no more im-
pression on me, than the wind howling amidst the shrouds
in a gale.

It was past midnight when my lonely contemplations
were interrupted, by a man on deck telling me there was a
signal from the shore.

This was the signal, concerted with De Ruyter, to ap-
prise me of his approach. The boats were in readiness ;
one I sent for him and his party, and manned the long-
boat of the grab, which he had lent me for the occasion.
I had robed Zela in the richest costume of her country :
her yellow vest was spangled with little rubies, and her
chemise and flowing drawers, of sea-green Indian crape,
were edged with gold; her outer garments were of the
finest muslin of India ; her slippers, and the embroidered
kerchiefs which bound up her hair, and concealed her
bosom and the lower part of her face, were beaded and em-
bossed with pearls. I preserved but one braid of her long,
dark, silken hair, and, placing that in my breast, I kissed
her eyelids, cheeks, and lips. Carefully folding her in a
large Arab barican, or cloak of white earners hair, I con-
veyed her into the boat. I was a mere machine. The
blood in my veins was stagnant. I remember only that
when De Ruyter came to me, the efforts I made to speak
with composure had nearly stifled me. When he told me

494? ADVENTURES OF

they were all ready on shore, I feared I could not walk
along the boat, yet I sternly refused to be assisted. I got
over the boat's quarter into the sea; and, pressing my
precious burthen closely to my breast, and warily pre-
venting the water from touching her, I walked through the
surf to the shore. Its coolness strengthened me, and I
was enabled to stagger on to the spot where stood the
funeral pile. I could recognise no other object. The
figures that , flitted about, and those that stopped to speak
to me, looked like spectres gliding in a dance of death. A
black iron furnace, like a coffin, was placed on the pile.
After standing for some time entranced at its side, my
senses, by some means, were sufficiently restored to make
me aware of the necessity of going through what I had un-
dertaken. I placed the body within the iron shell as deli-
cately as a mother lays her sleeping child in its cradle.
Then De Ruyter, the old Rais, and others withdrew me a
short distance away, and held me there. Oils, spices,
musk, camphor, and ambergris, I was afterwards told, were
thrown in by baskets full. Dry bamboos and damped
reeds thickly covered all; so that, when ignited, I could see
nothing but a dark, impenetrable pyramid of smoke. I
tried to speak ; then entreated by signs, for my throat was
* dry as death, that they would unhand me ; but they held
me fast, and my strength had totally fled. Owing to some
confusion, the cause of which I did not then ascertain, —
(it was" the rescuing of Adoo, who had thrown herself1 into
the flames), — I found myself unfettered; and, with the in-
tention of doing the same thing, I sprang forward, but,
stumbling from weakness, or over some object in my way,
I fell on the sand, so near the fire that my outstretched
hands were severely burnt. What followed I know not,
for I remained insensible. When restored to reason, I
was swinging in a cot on the deck of the schooner.

The utmost human nature can endure and survive, I
suffered. I cursed the strength of my body, harder and
stronger than steel, that retained, in despite of my ardent
longing for death, the spirit of life within me. De Ruyter's
urgent affairs kept him at the town of Port St. Louis ; but
he frequently came over to me in the night, A small case,

A YOUNGER SON. 49«>

containing Zela's ashes, was given me ; it was ever near
me. I had been strongly urged to accompany De Ruyter
to the town, or to his country-house, but I would not leave
the schooner

CHAPTER XLIV.

Am I to leave this haven of my rest,

This cradle of my glory, this soft clime,

This calm luxuriance of blissful light ? Keats,

But custom maketh blind and obdurate

The loftiest hearts ; — he had beheld the woe

In which mankind was bound, but deem'd that fate,

Which made them abject, would preserve them so. Shelley.

Nearly a month had elapsed, when De Ruyter, coming
on board one night, found me calmer and more attentive to
his discourse than usual. He then told me he had been
strongly urged, nay, importuned by the governor of the
island^ to take despatches to Europe, conveying the in-
formation he had brought ; and that information was now
further corroborated by unquestionable authority from se-
veral quarters. — The word Europe at first startled me ; for
I had learnt to loathe it, and consider the East as my
country. But now the case was altered. I wished to bid
adieu to the objects which surrounded me. I wished to
remove myself to the opposite extremity of the world, — I
cared not where or how, so that I could, by action and
change, banish thoughts, and learn to forget the past. De
Ruyter, comprehending the workings of my mind, gave
me time for reflection. He then asked me what I thought
on the subject. I answered, that I was unable to think,
and therefore could not advise ; but I told him my wishes,
and urged him implicitly to follow his own judgment.
<e What judgment I have," he said, " floats on the surface.
My mind is at all times ready to answer on the instant.
It is plain the English will be paramount in India for a
while, and that all other European nations will be driven
from their settlements on the Indian islands. Our stay

496 ADVENTURES OP

here cannot arrest the progress of events. A wise man,
when he finds himself badly placed in one spot, will re-
move to another. The weak and timid, like silly birds,
drop into the jaws of the rattlesnake, I only hesitated to
hear your wishes ; so you may prepare the schooner for
sea ; to do which you must run her round to Port St.
Louis. As the grab is merely adapted for the Indian seas,
I shall sell or leave her ; and we will proceed together in
the schooner. The business requires haste ; so you had
better turn the hands up, and get out with this land
breeze."

This I did, and externally resumed the stoical fortitude
which had left me for a time. Early on the next day I
was at Port St. Louis, and all the busy preparations of
going to sea for a long voyage commenced. The govern-
ment stores, artificers, and seamen were severally put in
requisition, by command of the governor-general, to expe-
dite the equipment of the schooner. As I had lost all
relish for eating and sleeping, and never left the schooner
for an instant, at the expiration of a few days every thing
was completed, and we lay ready to put to sea at an hour's
notice.

Nor did my grief make me so selfish as to forget or
neglect these dependent on me. I consulted with Be
Ruyter on the best means of providing for Adoo, and
Zela's other little girl, who was still emaciated and wasting,
and the remaining Arabs of her house, now reduced to
twelve. He first talked with the old Rais on the subject ;
and, with his boundless liberality, gave him the choice of
an entire plantation on his estate on the island, as a free
gift to him and his, without stipulation ; or money to pur-
chase a vessel, in which he might trade as a merchant, or
return to his country, and spend the remainder of his life
at ease, amidst his kindred and countrymen. It would be
a tedious recital to detail all that passed on the occasion.
The old Arab seaman, although of the desert, had a heart
and head that neither years nor hardships could render
insensible. Long debating on the matter with him, Pe
Ruyter ascertained that his wish was to return to the land
of his fathers. It was therefore decided that Zela's Arabs

A YOUNGER SON". 497

and her two attendants should return with him. The
Arabs were, by their own election, to become the followers
of the Rais ; and the Malayan girls were to be formally
adopted by him.

It is scarcely necessary to say that every individual was
amply rewarded, nor were their deserts so much considered
as their fidelity to their mistress. Had their avarice been
as great as that of priests, my prodigal gifts must have sa-
tisfied them ; if indeed the insatiable maws of priests can
ever be glutted, while aught remains to be extorted. But
with these simple-hearted people, whatever other vices
they may have had, avarice, the worst of all, though it
had entered their dark bosoms, had not usurped the first
place there. For the loss of the last blood of their race,
the utter extinction of one of the purest Arabian tribes,
whose pedigree went back to thousands of years, to the
fathers of the human race, they gave vent to their grief in
loud and clamorous yells ; whilst I, " a cannibal of my
own heart," nourished mine in silence.

I well knew it would be in vain to reason with Adoo on
the necessity of her leaving me ; and it required all the
influence Be Ruyter had over me to induce me to be
separated from this last link connecting me with the past.
But his reasons were so many and unanswerable, that at
length I was compelled to submit, and he undertook to
effect our separation by stratagem. Although I continued
to protest strongly and urgently against this, to my sorrow
it took place ; and its sad result filled my cup of misery
to overflowing, and, like a poisonous oil, it floats on the
surface.

The eastern portion of our crew was discharged, the
grab was sold, and the Europeans on board of her were
transhipped to the schooner. We had no difficulty in
completing our number of hands, as so many seamen were
anxious to return to their country. De Ruyter provided
for his eldest followers in various modes ; some were re-
warded by gifts of land on his estate, a portion of which
he disposed of, including the house ; and he took care ta
register the freedom of those whom he had emancipated.

At any other time the metamorphosis my body was

K K

498 ADVENTURES OF

compelled to undergo, not from the caterpillar to the
winged butterfly, but from the butterfly to the caterpillar,
would have mortified me. In short, I laid aside the free,
graceful, and pleasant garb of the East for the detestable
and ludicrous fashion of the West. I would rather my
legs were in the stocks, than my throat. The chains of a
galley-slave do not cramp a man's limbs more than buck-
ram, starch, and the modern tightness of dress. My first
transition to a sailor's jacket and trowsers I could have
borne uncomplainingly, had it ended there.

CHAPTER XLV.

A little shadow, floating near the shore,

Caught the impatient wandering of his gaze ;

It had been long abandoned, for its sides

Gaped wide with many a rift, and its frail joints

Swayed with the undulations of the tide. Shelley".

It was a year afterwards that I received the afflicting news
of Adoo. When she discovered that the schooner, bearing
the ashes of her mistress, had left the port, contrary to her
usual habits, but with the cunning and inflexible deter-
mination of her nature, she listened to all the kind-hearted
Rais could say to soothe her ; and appearing, if not satis-
fied, yet resigned to circumstances, she succeeded in lulling
her adopted father's suspicions. Then stealing out at night,
she swam to a country vessel ; and, casting off the painter
by which her boat was secured, with the rope held be-
tween her teeth, she floated out of the harbour with the
land-wind. When she believed herself safe from discovery
she got on board the boat, and paddled directly out to sea,
her mind bent on the single object of escape, evidently in
the vain hope of overtaking the schooner. She had never,
perhaps, reflected on its folly ; as to the danger, where her
affections were thither was she impelled, and no impedi-
ment could arrest her steps.

The Rais, aware of her flight in the morning, with

A YOUNGER SON. 499

great sagacity traced her to having taken the boat of the
Arab vessel; and, without a moment's delay, engaged a
large boat, manned her with his Arabs, proceeded a long
way to sea in our track, and cruised about for two days,
in hopes of falling in with her. But not succeeding, he
carefully marked the setting of the swell and currents since
the night of her escape, ran back to the island, and
coasted along its east side, questioning the people in the
fishing-boats and those on shore, but without avail. There
are two small islands at the eastern extremity of the Isle
of France, called Round Islands ; when, going on towards
one of these, he discovered a small boat, which proved to
be the one taken from the Arab vessel. She was bilged,
filled with water, and lying on the rocks, on which the
swell of the breakers had washed and left her. The island
was without fresh water or inhabitants ; every spot, rock,
and hollow crevice in it were examined, without dis-
covering the slightest vestige of Adoo. The neighbouring
islandand the coast immediately adjoining were also searched.
Her death seemed certain ; but the manner of it was, and
is, involved in mystery.

This news I felt as a sword thrust through my body, or
as a probe forced into a newly cicatrised wound. It showed
at least that a portion of the sensibility of my fieart was
restored. This event, of which I could not help thinking
De Ruyter was the origin, formed the only instance where
I ever had to repent the having yielded up my strong im-
pulses to his sound judgment. Henceforth I determined,
that whatever manacles might bind my limbs, no fetters
should incarcerate my mind.

" I have lived thus many years,
And run through all these follies men call fortunes,
Yet never fixed on any good and constant
But what I made myself : why should I grieve then
At what I may mould any way ? "

I cannot recal an event worth recording previously to
our departure from the Isle of France, nor during our pas-
sage to Europe. More than once we were chased; but
few vessels that ever floated could keep way with the
schooner in any weather. In the English Channel the
British cruisers lay around us like the coral islands in the

K K 2

500 ADVENTURES OF

Sooloo archipelago ; we had escaped the peril of the one*
so we managed to elude the pursuit of the other. After
an unprecedented quick passage we anchored in the port of
St, Malo in France* then full of French privateers and
ships of war.

Ere we had been an hour at anchor De Ruyter was
posting on his road to Paris* to deliver his despatches to
the government* whilst I remained in charge of the
schooner.

We had a small cargo of the finest tea* coffee* spices*
and, by some accident* or other* a few tons of white crystal
sugar. This last I mention* as, at that period* the price
of sugar was so high in France that it was sold at an enor-
mous profit* nearly clearing the expenses of the voyage.
Our other East Indian produce was sold at almost an
equally high rate ; and I saw that trade* not war* was the
most direct and only certain road leading to wealth* though
I was utterly indifferent to its accumulation. My senti-
ments* changed on many things* have remained* to the
present hour* unaltered on this head.

The voyage* and more particularly the extreme hard-
ships we endured* with the privations attending so long a
run in so small a craft and many hands* all conspired*
bracing my collapsed muscles* to keep me alive. Yet I
wras still very weak and emaciated ; my body was so thin
that the skin seemed stretched to bursting over my gaunt
and bony form ; my face was haggard and careworn to
a degree unexampled in one so young ; — for I had hardly
yet attained the age at which the law* as if in mockery,
tells us we are free agents, while it heaps responsibility on
us* and thrusts us forth to earn our bitter bread by the
sweat of our brows* like Cain* with every man's hand
against us* — though Cain had* literally* the world for his
garden* while we find every spot pre-occupied. In this
struggle for existence* each is compelled to turn his hand
against every man.

▲ YOUNGER SON. 501

CHAPTER XLVI.

Sylla was first of victors ; but our own,

The sagest of usurpers, Cromwell, he

Too swept off senates, while he hew'd the throne

Down to a block. Byron.

Look to the East, where Ganges^swarthy race

Shall shake its usurpation to its base

Lo ! there rebellion rears her ghastly head,

And glares the Nemesis of native dead,

Till Indus rolls a deep purpureal flood,

And claims his long arrears of northern blood.

So may ye perish ! Ibid.

Seven or eight days had passed when De Ruyter returned
to St. Malo. Several long conferences had passed between
him and the French emperor. De Ruyter represented him
as so wrapt up in schemes for aggrandising himself in
Europe, that he afforded little attention to things out of it ;
and he asserted that if he could monopolise the East Indian
trade, as the English had done, he would not permit it ;
for it could merely tend to enrich a few individuals, whilst
it must ultimately ruin the nation at large. " And so,"
he added, " the English will find it, if they continue it on
the same footing."

De Ruyter answered him that he was of the same opi-
nion ; but as the foundation of the political power of Eng-
land was her commerce, that was the vulnerable side to be
assailed ; and as the Isle of France, having two excellent
ports, St. Louis and Bourbon, besides one at the Isle of
Bourbon "

" What ! " exclaimed Napoleon, " are the wealth and
blood of France to be expended to maintain islands in the
Indian Ocean, which are but idle pyramids to comme-
morate the name of an accursed dynasty, that should be
blotted from the page of history altogether, and for ever ? *'
* De Ruyter, with his usual fearless frankness, observed^

e ' What signifies a name ? It can be "

" A name ! " interrupted Napoleon, hurriedly, — " a
name ! — why it is every thing ! The puny rocks, so de-
signated, are worthless — let the English have them ! —

KK 3

502 ADVENTURES OP

they will value them for the legitimacy of their appella-
tions. Tell me, for I am referred to you on the present
state of India, can any thing be done there ? What is
your opinion ? We have heard of you, and your name
is a great one ; it has long slept ; but, by report, its spirit
lives revived in you. I will be your pioneer, and put you
in a way to add to its greatness. You have an example/'
he continued, after a pause, " you have an example in your
country, Holland, that a commercial nation may rapidly
become great; yet that is transitory, — it never has endured,
it never can endure. A nation, to be lasting, must build
on the foundation of its own soil. We have no difficulty
in finding leaders for our soldiers ; look at those men
(pointing to a regiment of his guards, drawn up outside the
Tuilleries), there is not one among them but could, and
many of them assuredly will, be able generals. Yet I have
searched in vain, throughout the nation, for a single De
Witt, De Ruyter, or Van Tromp ; else would I hasten the
downfal of a nation, whose vaunted wooden ramparts are
formidable only as the wall of China, while neighbouring
nations are less powerful. Our Gallic nation are all bilious :
this is a spur to them on shore ; but on the water they are
sea-sick; I had been a sailor, if my liver would have al-
lowed me. I never entered a boat but the heaving of the
sea made me feel helpless as a puling baby. Our admirals
are worse. I remember two of the oldest, with me at
Boulogne, looked qualmish at merely seeing the vessels
pitch and roll in the port. An Englishman, a twelve-
month at sea, is sick of the shore after a week's absence.
But our empire is on the land ; and thirty millions of men,
in the very heart of Europe, will and must endure firm as
the centre of the earth itself."

Napoleon then questioned De Ruyter, in detail and mi-
nutely, concerning the native princes of India, their
strength, the population of their countries, their divisions
among themselves, their religions, their revenues,, and their
characters, and more particularly concerning their courage
and abilities. As De Ruyter went on, he made hasty re-
marks, in a low tone, as if indifferent to what he said
being heard or not

A YOUNGER SON. 503

He concluded with, ** It is strange that the Turks and
Chinese are the only people who, whether conquerors or
conquered, have attained the only useful end of conquest, a
real augmentation of their national strength. If intolerance
and bigotry enabled them to do this, the English ought also
to have succeeded ; for they are more intolerant and bigoted
than either. They cannot mingle or unite themselves
with any other people, not even with their nearest neigh-
bours, the Scotch and the Irish. They go forth with a
bayonet in one hand, and a halter in the other ; never, for
a moment, will they lay them aside ; after a lapse of cen-
turies they have not advanced a single step in men's minds
or hearts. Therefore the end must be that the natives of
India, from the Himmalayan mountains to the sea, with
one voice giving vent to their long pent-up execrations,
will arise, exterminating their haughty oppressors, and
every record of their ignominious slavery."

In long and repeated audiences which Be Ruyter had
with Napoleon, the emperor, when alone with him, spoke,
openly and unhesitatingly, his opinions ; and he was
pleased with the equal frankness of De Ruyter, his discri-
minating knowledge of men teaching him that he had a
man to deal with as strong-minded as himself, not to be
dazzled or daunted by the idle parade of a court, or the in-
signia of arbitrary sovereignty. Napoleon was the only
monarch that De Ruyter did not thoroughly despise, and
him he hated for his selfish and insatiable ambition.

" He has, indeed," said De Ruyter, u shaken some of
the palsied old legitimate dotards from their mouldering,
worm-eaten thrones ; and, doffing their purple robes, held
them up to the derision of mankind. Yet, doing this, he
vainly thought to perpetuate tyranny by substituting mili-
tary despots, by whom he hopes to secure himself, and
bind the ambitious by gratitude or interest, as if the am-
bitious could feel for anything but themselves. Much
good, on the whole, may and will ensue ; but we owe him
nothing, for he designed nothing but evil. A rusty bolt is
the most difficult to withdraw ; but once removed, though
replaced, it will never hold securely. What a master's
hand teaches his workmen for his own benefit will be,
k k 4

504* ADVENTURES OF

some day, turned to their own advantage. Napoleon has
taught our children to play the game of hocus-pocus with
popes, priests, kings, and other straw-stuffed scarecrows ;
they (for we, their fathers, still cling to the rocking-horse
and rattle), despising the toys of our times, will cast them
aside for ever, and play a manlier game/'

De Ruyter moreover added, that the emperor had re-
quested to see him again, hinting he should employ him^
and, as bounty-money, tendered him less than the value of
a shilling — the ribbon of the legion of honour.

" They would have disgraced me," he said, " by creat-
ing me a chevalier — I'd rather be a Chevalier d'Industrie.
Let us dispose of our cargo, and conclude the business
which brought us here. I never served but one man —
Washington ! I was then a boy. In France, during a
part of the revolution, 1 sought to complete rny apprentice-
ship to liberty : although, in France I found many men
professing to teach, when I had learnt enough from my
first master to discover they were empirics.

u Politics apart, my dear fellow, will you act wisely, -—
will you return to your own country ? See what changes
have taken place in your family. They are numerous and
wealthy. Surely some among them must be worthy of
your love. It is foolish to wantonly estrange yourself from
human ties ; and your health and strength are woefully
shattered. A winter's voyage to America will destroy
you. Try a few months in your own climate. At the ex-
piration of that time I will return ; or, if prevented by
events not to be foreseen, you can rejoin me in America or
elsewhere."

I had a great deal of difficulty in bringing my mind to
this point, yet at last I determined on it ; but not till De
Ruyter was leaving St. Malo. The period soon arrived ;
most of his crew were now Americans, picked up in ex-
change for French and other foreigners. Americans,
which is not to be wondered at, dislike being detained in
any country but their own.

A YOUNGER SOrf. 505

CHAPTER XLVII.

" God sare the king !" and kings,
For if he don't, I doubt if men will longer ;
I think I hear a little bird who sings,
The people by and by will be the stronger -,
The veriest jade will wince whose harness wrings
So much into the raw as quite to wrong her
Beyond the rules of posting ; and the mob
At last fall sick of imitating Job. Byeosj.

For I will teach, if possible, the stones

To rise against earth's tyrants. Never let it

Be said, that we still truckle unto thrones ;

But ye, our children's children ! think how we

Show'd what things were before the world was free. Ibid.

As England and France were then at war, De Ruyter in-
quired into the hest means of my crossing the channel ;
and, at St. Malo, this was no insurmountahle difficulty.
The islands of Jersey and Guernsey, belonging to England,
are inhabited, almost exclusively, by the French or their
descendants; and, as they lie nearly in midchannel of the
"broadest part of the English and French coast, the people
are perfectly neutral in their politics. When ordinary
communications are shut up by war, these islanders always
contrive to keep theirs open. During the last war they
were notorious; both governments were believed to have
used them as channels by which they acquired inform-
ation of each other's movements. The boatman, with
whom I engaged to run me across, had certainly been em-
ployed by the agents of France and England ; who had, on
those occasions, given him a sealed pass, which he was
directed to show if stopped by any of the king's officers,
and which he was always obliged to return before he was
paid.

I am totally unable to write what I felt when the mo-
ment arrived which was to separate me from the man I
loved better, a thousand times, than ever before one man
could love one another. The sun was setting, and the
night mast have been cold, for my limbs shook, and I could
hardly support myself. I was obliged to hold on the iron
rail of the stone steps, leading from the quay to the boat in

506 ADVENTURES OP

which I was to embark. When we had descended,, to be
in a line with the boat, I was insensible to the water, which
worked up to my knees. Exhausted as if I had run a
race, yet my movements were solemn as the chief mourner
at a funeral. De Ruyter also was touched ; his bronzed
face was of a leaden hue : though I believe he talked calmly
and distinctly, I could not afterwards remember a word he
had said, but, (C Farewell, my dear boy ! " Then, with an
effort to speak more cheerfully, he added the consolatory
words, ee In six months we meet again ! "

His hand waved a last farewell ! My heart — I thought
nothing more could move it — swelled to bursting ; and
my eyelids, which, since Zela's deaths had been dry and hot,
became moist. The heart is the organ of true wisdom,
gifted with prophetic power ; it looks into futurity. Though
De Ruyter 's words were, c< We shall meet again,' ' a pre-
diction so rational to the judgment that mine could not
gainsay it ; yet my heart, never before doubting that what
he averred must be, now refused to register what he said —
it added to his words, " Farewell, for ever ! "

What could I but cling to De Ruyter ? Like one sus-
pended over a cliff by a single rope, I held him ; and the
feelings that overcame me at parting were as seeing that
rope giving way, or as, with more appalling agony, a sailor
fallen into the sea at midnight, catching the last glimpse of
his ship, his limbs paralysed, his swelling heart bursts. I
am one whose faith is, that love and friendship, with
ardent natures, are like those trees of the torrid zone which
yield fruit but once, and then die.

On the night of our separation, De Ruyter returned to
Paris. Not only the minds of men, but often their as-
sociations, are visibly charactered on their outside. It is
a mystical book, which all stare on, and many pretend to
expound, but few are the number who comprehend it.
Cromwell and Napoleon, in the West, were of the gifted
few : by those means they ascended thrones. In the East,
the only " study of mankind is man." They have no Miss
Edgeworth, nor any of those millinering cutters-out of
human nature into certain patterns of given rules in educa-
tion. They do not measure men by one common standard;

A YOUNGER SON. 50?

but those gifted with strong sight pry into the individual
characters of others, often with the precision and truth
with which a chemist investigates matter.

Napoleon, whose mind and conceptions took a wide
range, although his actions were guided by self-interest,
reminds us of Bacon's words — i( Wisdom for a man's self
is a depraved thing ; it is the wisdom of rats, that will be
sure to leave a house before it falls : it is the wisdom of the
fox, that thrusts out the badger: and whereas they have
all their time sacrificed to themselves, they have often, in
the end, sacrificed themselves to the inconstancy of fortune,
whose wings they thought, by their self-wisdom, to have
pinioned. " Surely this is applicable to Napoleon.

But to return to De Ruyter. The emperor, struck with
his noble mien and extensive information, determined to
employ him. He made him many offers — promotion in
his navy, the command of the coast, and the marine de-
partment bordering the English Channel — a residency in
a West Indian island, or a return to the East. Napoleon,
unlike legitimate kingly blockheads, not bound down in
holy alliances to act as neighbours act — (by the by, where
is the Holy Alliance of God's Anointed ? I was told it
was to last for ever !) — Napoleon thought and acted for
himself. All his proposals to De Ruyter were made in the
first person ; and the rejection, unenvenomed by ministers,
was not offensive. By these conferences the emperor
learnt that De Ruyter had a spirit to be moved, but not to
be blindly hurried on by glory and ambition. He there-
fore gave him scope to act in his own way, bending his
actions to bear on the designs then in hand. De Ruyter
was at length induced to send the schooner to America
under the charge of his mate, taking the precaution to
change her French papers for those of America, through
the American charge d'affaires in Paris.

De Ruyter's first undertaking in the emperor's service
was a secret mission to Italy. I only know its main
design — against him profanely denominated God's Vicar,
and the blaspheming crew who say they are moved by the
Spirit of the Deity. Had Napoleon been sincere in his
detestation of these vermin, and fearless in act as De

508 ADVENTURES OF

Ruyter, he would not have clipped their wide-spreading
branches, merely altering their form, but have uprooted
the huge upas extending its baneful influence far and wide,
and destroyed it to its root for ever. Whilst, for the good
of all mankind, De Ruyter was investigating into the means
of this uprooting, he was struck in the back with a stiletto,
at the dark angle of a narrow street formed by the palace
of a cardinal. This and other circumstances were enough
to fix the treachery on the cowardly and atrocious priests,
whose red stockings are emblematic of their sanguinary
nature. His presence of mind was seconded by prompti-
tude of hand rapid as lightning, and the assassin s dagger
was turned against his own heart with an aim that seldom
erred. De Ruyter escaped with a slight wound, com-
pleted his mission with increased zeal, and returned to
Paris.

I could then merely ascertain that soon afterwards he
embarked at Toulon in a French corvette, went to Corsica
and Sardinia, and thence to the coast of Barbary, in the
Gulf of Cabes. Beating up for Tunis, they fell in with
an English frigate. The officer of the corvette, which was
placed under de Ruyter's control, not under his command,
was brave as he was inflexibly headstrong. He had per-
sisted, till the last moment, too late to correct his error, in
maintaining that the English vessel was a corvette, and
not, as De Ruyter averred, a frigate ; besides stinging De
Ruyter by boasting allusions to his country, his duty, his
reputation, and the unsullied honours of the grand and
invincible nation.

De Ruyter was standing in the most exposed situation,
on the taffrail, sinking his despatches over the stern, when
the halliards of the French ensign were shot away. He
and the French captain were in the act of rehoisting it,
when they were both pierced by a hundred balls from a
broadside of cannister shot, from the frigate's carronades,
which swept along the corvette's deck, almost clearing it.

His body was found enveloped in the folds of the tri-
coloured flag, under which he had fought so long victo-
riously ; — it was then his winding-sheet. Let me borrow
the words of a Russian poet for his eulogy and epitaph ;

A YOUNGER SON. 509

they are worthy of him, and far better than I can find in
my own mind : —

" He lived, he fought
For truth and wisdom ; foremost of the brave,
Him glory's idle glances dazzled not ;
'Twas his ambition, generous and great,
A life to life's great end to consecrate ! "

CHAPTER XLVIII.

A fisherman he had been in his youth,

And still a sort of fisherman was he ;

But other speculations were, in sooth,

Added to his connection with the sea. Byron,

Be still the unimaginable lodge

For solitary thinkings ; such as dodge

Conception to the very bourne of heaven,

Then leave the naked brain. Keats,

The world is full of orphans. Byron's MS.

6e In six months we meet again ! " rang in my ear as the
boat pulled down the pier, and beside the walls of the town
to windward. I lost sight of the harbour ; and the voices
of the men on board the schooner, cheering me as I passed,
died away. I was compelled to arouse myself to steer the
boat3 which was indeed of the smallest description, a mere
punt, of fifteen feet long, and five feet beam ; a man and
a boy were my crew. During the night we made little
way. There was a light but steady breeze blowing from
the north-west directly in our teeth. We hugged the
shore, pulling up to the southward, towards Cherbourg,
making little way with our two oars. After seven hours'
tugging against the breeze, we let go the grapnel, and the
man and his boy went to sleep. I kept a look-out, and
saw the fishing boats and a privateer lugger creeping out
to sea, and crawling along the coast ; but they could not
see an object so low in the water and insignificant as our
boat. A thorough seaman never sleeps more than four
hours at a spell ; at the expiration of that time it was

510 ADVENTURES OP

broad daylight, and the old seaman arose, pulling off a
water-proof shaggy pea-green jacket, and shaking him-
self like an old mastiff. The young sea-whelp, coiled up
under the bow, in a space where a spaniel would have
turned and twisted for a long time ere he could have
stowed himself in comfort, endured many curses and some
kicks before he turned out of his kennel. The seaman
then, dipping a couple of his fingers in the water, rub-
bed his eyes, which is called a privateer's wash ; and lift-
ing a small ten-gallon keg, he placed it on his lap, and
supported it like a baby.

At this, the boy handed him a wooden scoop, used for
baling the water out of the boat, when he drew the spigot
till it was about a third part full of brandy, first asked me if I
would take a sup of the doctor, then drank it off like new
milk, handed the boy a drop, and replaced the keg. Thus
refreshed, he fished out of his pocket a small telescope, took
a survey all round the compass, declared the coast was
clear, and ordered the boy to weigh the grapnel, whilst he
shipped the boat's mast. Under a small sprit-sail and jib
we made a stretch over. We did not lay our course, but
the tide was running up channel, and carried us to wind-
ward.

Associated with men of many different nations, I had
acquired a habit of studying their dissimilarities of
character ; and the man in the boat being unlike any thing
I had hitherto seen, I, by degrees, turned the tide of my
thoughts from brooding on the past, to the fellow who was
continually before my eyes. Like all old seamen, he was
remarkably taciturn. Whether he was French or English
it was impossible to tell either by looks or language ; for
he used both languages indiscriminately, and pronounced
both equally badly. His visage was hard and bluff as a
rock, of which it seemed a fragment ; his hair, never
sophisticated by a comb, and matted together with salt-
water, resembled dark sea -weed, speckled with incrustations
of salt ; his chin and throat were covered with a week's
growth of gristled stubble ; his figure was short, particu-
larly square, and, with his red cap, shaggy pea-green
jacket down to his knees, and tarpaulin trowsers had he

A YOUNGER SON. 511

been seated on a rock in India, I think I should have had
a shot at him, mistaking him for an ugly specimen of the
walrus. By degrees, I gathered from him that he was a
native of Guernsey, but had, for some reason or other,
migrated to Jersey, where he had married the widow of a
drowned smuggler. She inherited from her deceased
husband a snug cabin, built in the bite of a sandy bay ;
and he was prouder than a lord of the rights and privileges
of this manor, although it consisted entirely of barren sand;
for on that the sea, at every spring-tide, sported, and
thence arose his wealth. On the overflowing of the sea
depended his livelihood, like the Egyptians on the over-
flowing of the Nile, and the people of India on that of the
Ganges ; for the high tides in the channel are frequently
preludes to gales, and gales are followed by wrecks, when,
favoured by the tides, which swept directly into the said
bite, formed into a narrow bay by reefs, casks and other
buoyant articles were borne thither, of which his hawk-
eyed wife, always on the watch, made lawful prize. A
few days before, he had thus picked up two pipes of
Lisbon wine, which he called a god-send, and promised me
as many gallons as I chose, seeing I did not seem to like
the other genuine stuff he drank. He said he sometimes,
on shore, drank a tub or two of wine, if it was strong ;
but it didn't do to take to sea, took up too much room, and
didn't make a man's inside water-proof, which good Nantz
would. Besides smuggling in a retail sort of way, he
sometimes aided and abetted the wholesale smugglers, by
acting as their pilot ; for he had been flve-and-twenty
years constantly at sea in the channel, and knew every
bay, creek, and land mark. Nor was he very particular in
his services ; as he often piloted the ships of war of France
as well as of England, being equally acquainted and
friendly with both coasts.

We turned to windward during the day, occasionally
using the oars, for the wind was light, the hardy boatmen
taking advantage of the tides and currents, without which
we should have done nothing. Towards nightfall he said,
" We must now make those rochers to windward, before
the tide shall turn : — moor the boat under their lee till

512 ADVENTURES OF

three in the morning, demain matin, when it shall again
turn in our favour. To-morrow, at night, you shall, sans
etre appergu, run in my cove, and you stay there as long
as — comme il vous plaira."

Accordingly we struck the mast of the boat, and pulled
her up to the rocks ; they were four or five, about as big,
above water, as the mud barges used in the Thames. I
climbed up the largest, while the old pilot said, " I gene-
rally touches at these rochers, to pick up a few red coats
(lobsters), " parceque ma chere femme has deucedly gout
for him ; and there be plenty ici"

He then began spinning me a long yarn about the habits
of eels and lobsters, which abounded among the rocks, and
that the eels went there purposely to eat lobsters. The
way they got them was by blockading the holes wherein
the lobsters took refuge, when casting off their old coats ;
if they ventured forth ere the new shells were hardened,
the eels attacked and devoured them. He then went to
work with a sort of harpoon, and succeeded in striking and
bringing up both eels and lobsters ; while the boy, with a
knife, dislodged oysters, muscles, limpets and periwinkles.
After a fishy supper, the pilot, having unlocked his jaw
by repeated applications to the brandy keg, told me long
and curious stories concerning his sea adventures with
French and English, including the Flying Dutchman,
which marvel he plentifully vouched with oaths, about as
true as a common affidavit. At last, giving me the boat's
sail for a bed, he stretched himself out on the jagged rocks,
and slept soundly as the unsanctified in a comfortable pew
of a church ; — I wish the benches were softer, and the
cushions higher, as then more people might be tempted to
take a nap ; it is my only reason for never going.

It was not then the hardness of my couch, nor did it
disturb me that I was placed, like a bird, on a solitary rock
in the sea. It was a fit resting place for an outcast and
isolated being like myself. Ere I entered on the new era
of life before me, my thoughts naturally reverted to the
past. I sat pondering on a destiny so strange as mine,
wondering how it would end.

There are more helpless beings in the world than

A YOUNGER SON. 513

orphans, whose young affections sleep like frozen water-
falls^ till love, from some being, like the sun in spring,
rises and awakens their peaceful slumbers ; or rather their
affections are created in that moment, and the vacancy in
their heart is filled up in the most harmonious manner.
Far more cruel is the lot of those (and the world is full
of them) who have hard-hearted and unfeeling parents ;
or, still worse, those who are selfish and indifferent, ex-
acting from their helpless and dependent offspring duty
and obedience, without giving, in return, a single glance of
kindness, chilling by frowns the spontaneous love which
flows from children in torrents. I was of this forlorn
tribe. My parents' hard usage and abandonment had long
gnawed at my heart, till years of absence, in which both
body and mind had expanded, taught me that it was the
worst of slavery to submit the freedom of either to those
whom we cannot esteem nor love. The pride of my
nature impelled me to shake off the bondage. I did so.
I could not endure the weight of slavery ; but I cheerfully
put on the heaviest chains the foes of liberty have to im-
pose,— and they are heavy. I walked with an elevated
front. Alone I withstood a fate that would have over-
powered thousands, often defeated, it is true, but ever in
losing I have still won. In this hard struggle I had
little refreshment but from the fountains of my own soul.
Had I not clung to myself, the atrocity of others had
made me a demon. In the very onset of my freedom, I
gained, what neither wealth nor rank can purchase — the
friendship of the really noble ; and the far dearer love of
one, the gentlest child of nature, a being on whom I might
securely repose. My spirit basked in the brightness of
her presence. I could neither then, nor now, conceive our
love to be a childish passion, nor that it would not cling
to me throughout my life. For the union of two hearts,
formed to meet, nature had strung our souls with the
same chord ; and, whether together or apart, it vibrated
the same sound, the same aspiration, a sympathy so per-
fect that it was a balsam poured on our hearts, leaving
nothing on earth or in heaven to desire. We had loved
with an excess of affection, which can alone justify excess.

L L

514 ADVENTURES OF

It happened to us as to a child, who, seizing upon a
branch and bending the whole tree over him, becomes
embowered amidst clusters of golden fruit. Alas ! I
imagined not that her sepulchre was placed by destiny so
near her cradle. The light which love lent me for a
moment was extinguished, never more to be rekindled.
Misfortune threw her huge shadow across my path, and I
was doomed to walk benighted beneath the mid-day sun,
never more to know peace nor rest till my dust is mingled
with Zela's, atom to atom. What joy in this world for
one who has drunk misanthropy out of the fulness of
love ? My being was an aching void. My heart refused
to give forth any fruit. The fulness of sorrow is great,
but how much greater is its emptiness ? I thought, in the
sea around me, I could behold the fragments of my ship-
wrecked life floating. I stood up, and, speaking aloud,
said, " When will the swell and storm die away, and the
dead calm of this great ocean come ? When shall I be
given up by its depths, and be borne unresistingly upon
its bosom to the distant, still shores of eternity ? "

CONCLUSION.

So on our heels a fresh protection treads,

A power more strong In beauty, born of us

And fated to excel us, as we pass

In glory that old darkness. Keats.

I am continuing this history of my life. The sequel
will prove that I have not been a passive instrument of
arbitrary despotism, nor shall I be found consorting with
worldly slaves who crouch round the wealthy and power-
ful. On my return to Europe, I found that earth's
despots had gathered together all their gladiators to
restore the accursed dynasty of the Bourbons. The
war-cry in Europe was the inviolability and omnipotency
of legitimate tyrants ; while helots, bigots, and fools, were

A YOUNGER SON. 515

let loose to exterminate liberty. I found every where a
price set upon the heads of patriots ; they were robbed,
prosecuted, judicially murdered or scoffed at, and driven
from the herd of society like the pariahs of India ; to
associate with them was to lose caste. From my soul, I,
who had suffered so much from tyranny, abhorred op-
pression. I sided with the weak against the strong ;
and swore to dedicate myself, hand and heart, to war,
even to the knife, against the triple alliance of hoary-
headed impostors, their ministers and priests. When
tyranny had triumphed, I followed the fortunes of those
invincible spirits who wandered, exiled outcasts, over the
world, and lent my feeble aid to unveil the frauds con-
tained in worn-out legends which have so long deluded
mankind.

Alas ! those noble beings are no more ! They have
fallen martyrs to the noble cause they so ably advocated.
But they have left enduring monuments, and their names
will live for ever. Would they had lived to see the tree
they had helped to plant put forth its blossoms ! Had
they survived to the year 1830^ and its glorious suc-
cessor 1831, how would they have rejoiced at beholding
the leagued conspiracy of tyrants broken, their blood-
hound priests muzzled, and the confederacy of nobles to
domineer over the people paralysed by a blow, the pre-
cursor of their overthrow ! The wrorld has a right to ex-
pect that France, from her position and general inform-
ation, will take the lead and keep it. Liberal and enlight-
ened opinions have progressively manifested themselves in
every part of Europe. " There is a reflux in the tide of
human things which bears the shipwrecked hopes of men
into a secure haven, after the storms are past/'

" The very darkness shook, as with a blast
Gf subterranean thunder at the cry ;
The hollow shore its thousand echoes cast
Into the night, as if the sea, the sky,
The earth, rejoiced with new-born liberty ! " Shelley.

Yes, the sun of freedom is dawning on the pallid

slaves of Europe, awakening them from their long and

deathlike torpor. The spirit of liberty, like an eagle, is

hovering over the earth, and the minds of men are tinged

l l 2

516

ADVENTURES OF A YOUNGER SON.

with its golden hues. . Let France, like the eagle it once
assumed in mockery for its emblem, now in reality
teach her new-born offspring to soar aloft, undazzled
by the bright luminary, when it shall have ascended
to its meridian glory. Every eye and every hope of
the good and wise are fixed on France; and with her
every bosom containing a single generous impulse is vibrat-
ing in sympathy. " Methinks those who now live have
survived an age of despair : "

" For freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft, is ever won." Byron.

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